RADER.'S 

CrVIL  GOVERNMENT 

OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 

AND  THE  STATE  OF  MISSOURI 

REVISED    EDITION 


1917 


UC-NRLF 


GIFT    OF 
JANE  KcSATHER 


CIVIL  GOVERNMENT 


OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 

AND 

THE  STATE  OF  MISSOURI 


REVISED    EDITION 

The  Two  Hundred  and  Eleventh  Thousand 


BY 

Perry   S.   Rader 


THE    HUGH    STEPHENS    COMPANY 
JEFFERSON  CITY,  MISSOURI 


CIVIL  GOVERNMENT 


OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 

AND 

THE  STATE  OF  MISSOURI 


REVISED    EDITION 

The  Izvo  Hundred  and  Eleventh  Thousand 


BY 

Perry   S.   Rader 


THE    HUGH    STEPHENS    COMPANY 
JEFFERSON  CITY,  MISSOURI 


Entered  according  to  act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1904,  by 

PERRY ^S.   RADER. 

In  the  oflace  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington,  D.  C. 


Copyright,  1897,  by  Perry  S.  Rader. 
Copyright,  1907,  by  Perry  S.  Rader. 
Copyright.  1912,  by  Perry  S.  Rader. 
Copyright,  1917,  by  Perry  S.  Rader. 


,9      .*     •  (s* 


PREFACE. 

When  the  State  Text-Book  Commission  met  in  the  year 
1897  to  adopt  a  series  of  text-books  for  use  in  pubHc  schools, 
about  thirty  civil  governments  were  submitted  for  adoption. 
None  of  them  was  satisfactory.  Thereupon  members  of  the 
commission  who  were  acquainted  with  my  School  History 
of  Missouri  suggested  that  I  write  and  submit  a  manuscript 
of  a  Civil  Government.  I  did  so,  and  it  was  adopted,  and  for 
five  years  after  its  publication  it  had  a  large  place  in  the 
schools.  Subsequently  the  book  w^as  entirely  rewritten  and  a 
revised  edition  brought  out  in  1904,  and  with  a  few  minor 
changes  in  the  text  made  necessary  by  changes  in  laws  and 
constitutions  has  been  in  general  use  ever  since.  Within  the 
last  year  the  book  has  been  thoroughly  revised  again.  In  the 
natural  evolution  of  the  government  of  a  great  people  new 
institutions  are  added  in  the  course  of  a  few  years  and  things 
once  unimportant  assume  large  proportions ;  they  call  for  new 
sections,  and  these  have  been  added.  Other  things  have 
become  less  important,  and  the  discussion  of  them  has  been 
accordingly  reduced.  Every  sentence  of  former  texts  retained 
in  this  has  been  rigidly  tested,  in  order  to  bring  it  strictly  up 
to  date  and  make  it  accurately  express  the  fact.  The  result 
is  a  book  brought  down  in  every  sentence  to  the  date  of 
publication. 

In  the  development  of  the  book  I  have  not  attempted  to 
construct  an  ideal  government.  Nor  have  I  enlarged  upon 
the  imperfections  of  American  government.  I  have  been 
content  to  present  the  Government  as  it  is.  The  scientist  who 
writes  a  text-book  on  botany  traces  plant  life  from  seed  to 
full-grown  tree.     He  does  not  try  to  construct  an  imaginary 

(3) 

367494 


4  PREFACE. 

tree ;  he  does  not  consider  himself  responsible  for  imperfections 
he  finds  in  leaf  and  flower.  He  takes  the  whole  tree  as  he  finds 
it.  In  the  seed  he  finds  a  tree  in  embryo,  and  from  that  seed 
he  traces  the  tree  as  it  unfolds  into  plant  and  trunk  and  limb 
and  bark  and  leaf  and  flower.  That  is  the  scientific  method 
which  has  been  pursued  in  the  writing  of  this  book.  The  un- 
folding and  development  of  Government  have  been  traced 
step  by  step  through  Colonial  charters,  State  constitutions, 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  then  back  to  Territorial 
government.  State  government  again,  and  from  State  govern- 
ment to  the  organization  and  government  of  counties,  cities 
and  school  districts ;  and  that  method  has  been  pursued  because 
it  was  by  those  steps  that  American  government  grew  and 
developed  into  what  it  now  is.  It  is  therefore  the  natural 
method,  and  hence  the  scientific  and  pedagogical  method. 

I  have  tried  to  write  with  a  teacher  and  a  class  of  boys 
and  girls  who  have  familiarized  themselves  with  the  main  facts 
of  the  history  of  the  United  States  constantly  before  my  eyes ; 
and  as  I  have  looked  into  their  faces  and  written,  two  other 
great  facts  have  stood  out  before  me.  The  first  is  that, 
next  to  spelling,  reading,  penmanship  and  arithmetic,  the 
subject  of  Government  is  the  most  practical  in  the  course  of 
study  prescribed  for  schools.  As  population  grows  denser, 
as  cities  are  built  and  public  improvements  are  undertaken. 
Government  draws  closer  and  closer  to  the  people,  and  more 
and  more  touches  on  the  privileges  and  duties  of  citizens. 
At  almost  every  step  and  turn  the  citizen  now  meets  the 
Government,  and  his  rights  and  its  powers  constantly  con- 
front each  other.  Government  has  become  all-comprehen- 
sive. There  is  scarcely  an  industry  into  which  it  has  not. 
thrust  its  powerful  hand,  and  scarcely  a  relationship  between 
men  that  it  has  not  undertaken  to  regulate.  It  is,  therefore, 
a  thing  that  concerns  every  one,  and  the  study  of  the  subject 
that  intimately  concerns  every  one  is  a  most  practical  study. 

The  next  great  fact  that  has  stood  out  before  me  as  I  have 


PREFACE.  5 

written  is  that  Government  is  a  hard  subject,  difficult  for 
the  teacher  and  difficult  for  the  pupil.  This  impediment  to 
its  study  I  have  endeavored  to  lessen  as  far  as  possible.  With 
the  teacher  and  class  before  me,  and  a  consciousness  that  the 
subject  is  hard,  I  have  been  contrcUed  by  a  desire  to  use  the 
easiest  words  that  would  accurately  express  the  facts.  My 
ambition  has  been  to  write  a  text-book  on  Civics  that  would 
not  only  be  sufficiently  comprehensive  for  the  average  citizen, 
but  whose  statements  would  be  both  scrupulously  accurate  and 
at  the  same  time  expressed  in  the  plainest  words  and  easiest 
sentences  ever  put  into  print.  I  have  further  tried  to  over- 
come this  impediment  by  making  the  discussions  interesting; 
and  I  have  therefore  made  use  of  every  allowable  element 
that  will  enlist  attention  and  add  illumination — even  to  the 
extent  of  using  illustrations,  which  is  a  method  of  discussion 
condemned  by  some  authors  of  text-books,  and  by  weaving  in 
statements  that  of  themselves  are  of  minor  importance,  but 
which  aid  to  a  better  comprehension  of  those  which  it  is 
necessary  to  understand. 

At  the  same  time  I  have  constantly  had  in  mind  the  neces- 
sity for  a  text  that  is  teachable  or  pedagogical.  The  arrange- 
ment is  all  my  own.  The  division  of  the  subjects  of  govern- 
ment, as  indicated  by  the  titles  to  the  various  chapters,  and 
the  sub-division  of  each  subject  into  its  component  parts,  as 
indicated  by  the  titles  to  the  sections,  not  only  constitute  a 
natural  analysis,  but  afford  the  easiest  way  to  come  to  a 
comprehension  of  government  as  a  whole. 

The  questions  at  the  end  of  each  chapter  are  not  designed 
for  use  in  recitations.  In  some  cases  they  may  be  used  with 
profit  by  the  teacher.  But  their  primary  design  is  to  aid  the 
pupil  in  centering  his  mind  upon  the  facts  stated  in  the  text 
that  must  be  known. 

The  book  is  sufficiently  elaborate  to  meet  all  needs  of  high 
schools  and  common  schools.  A  shorter  book  would  be  in- 
complete and  insufficient  for  the  needs  of  common  schools. 


6  PREFACE. 

To  use  a  more  comprehensive  book  would  be  to  enlarge  the 
high  school  into  a  law  school  or  a  political  science  department 
of  a  university. 

The  author  wishes  to  express  his  thanks  to  many  teachers 
who  had  used  former  revisions  of  his  Civil  Government  and  in 
letters  and  otherwise  have  made  valuable  suggestions  as  the 
revision  went  on.  Possibly  their  help  would  have  been  more 
valuable  if  they  had  found  more  faults  in  the  former  book; 
but  their  kindly  approval  and  sympathetic  interest  have  added 
to  the  pleasure  of  the  author's  labors. 

The  author  also  desires  to  express  his  grateful  acknowl- 
edgments to  the  publisher.  Improvements  in  the  mechanical 
construction  of  the  book  has  been  a  matter  of  pride  with  him. 
In  every  possible  way  he  has  sought  to  lighten  the  author's 
labors  and  to  aid  him  in  improving  the  text.  While  I  have 
striven  for  accuracy,  easy  expression  and  interesting  discussion, 
and  to  produce  a  text-book  which  measures  up  to  the  best 
pedagogical  standards,  he  has  striven  for  a  beautiful  page  and 
beautiful  and  substantial  covering.  The  cloth,  the  boards, 
the  paper,  the  type,  the  binding  have  all  come  under  his  eye  and 
are  his  selections.  Their  substantial  character  is  due  to  him. 
The  beauty  of  the  volume  is  due  to  him.  Being  a  native  son 
of  Missouri  whose  ancestors  have  for  three  generations  been 
citizens  of  the  State,  and  the  owner  of  the  only  Missouri 
publishing  house  which  undertakes  to  publish  text-books  for 
use  in  schools,  it  is  natural  that  he  would  take  pride  in  print- 
ing the  only  strictly  Missouri  book  that  is  offered  to  Missouri 
schools.  But  he  has  an  even  greater  interest  than  that: 
for  twenty  years,  covering  the  entire  period  of  his  mature 
manhood,  he  has  given  to  the  book  his  labor  and  study  and 
friendly  interest,  and  guided  its  growth  into  general  favor; 
in  consequence,  it  has,  in  a  large  sense,  become  a  part  of  his 
own  life,  a  creature  of  his  heart  and  hands. 

The  Author. 


CONTENTS, 


CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE    UNITED    STATES. 

Chapters  Page 

I. — General  Principles 9 

II. — Charter  and  Colonial  Governments 16 

III. — The  Rise  of  the  American  States  and  the  Union 27 

IV. — The  Fundamental  Law — The  Constitution 43 

V. — The  Legislative  Department 49 

VI. — Powers  of  Congress — Taxation 68 

VII. — Powers  over  Commerce 81 

VIII. — Power  to  Borrow  Money 88 

IX. — Powers  Over  Coinage,  Weights  and  Measures 92 

X. — NaturaUzation  and  Bankruptcies 110 

XI. — The  Post  Office 119 

XII. — War,  Insurrection,  Armies,  Navies  and  Militia 130 

XIII. — Powers  Denied  to  the  United  States 151 

XIV. — Powers  Denied  to  the  States 163 

XV.— The  President 174 

XVI. — The  Executive  Departments ^^ .  .  189 

XVII. — The  Judicial  Department 207 

XVIII. — Miscellaneous  Provisions 223 

CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  lillSSOURI. 

Chapters  Page 

I. — Rise  of  the  State  Government 237 

II. — The  Missouri  Constitution 242 

III. — The  General  Assembly 248 

IV. — The  Executive  Department 270 

V. — The  Courts 292 

VI. — Counties 317 

VII. — Cities,  Towns  and  Villages 338 

VIII. — Public  Schools 360 

IX. — Elections 391 

X. — Taxation 400 

XI. — Lands  and  Miscellaneous  Matters  Concerning  Lands 413 

XII. — Corporations 425 


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CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE 
UNITED  STATES. 


CHAPTER  I. 

GENERAL  PRINCIPLES. 

la.  What  Government  Is, — In  the  home  children  are 
trained,  required  to  be  in  bed  at  night,  work  certain  hours  of 
the  day,  observe  good  manners  at  table,  use  certain  words  in 
addressing  others,  and  pursue  habits  of  personal  cleanliness; 
the  father  exercises  authority  in  certain  things,  the  mother 
in  other  ways;  the  boys  are  given  certain  work,  and  the  girls 
other  duties;  the  regulations  change  as  the  children  grow 
older.  That  is  family  government,  and  there  can  be  no 
peace  or  order  in   the  home  without  some  such   government. 

In  the  school  the  pupils  are  placed  in  classes  and  each 
member  of  the  class  is  required  to  prepare  the  same  lessons 
and  use  like  books;  they  are  required  to  be  at  the  school  at 
given  hours,  to  spend  an  allotted  time  in  study,  and  to  obey 
the  directions  of  the  teacher.  Without  such  regulations 
there  would  be  disorder  and  confusion,  no  system  in  study,  no 
advancement  in  learning.  Teachers  must  be  employed,  and 
that  means  there  must  be  boards  to  employ  them,  and  those 
boards  must  be  supplied  with  money  with  which  to  pay 
teachers  and  build  school  houses.  If  the  school  is  a  public 
one  the  money  must  be  raised  by  taxation,  and  if  a  private 
one  it  must  be  raised  in  some  other  way.  The  boards  make 
certain  rules  for  the  guidance  of  the  teacher,  and  others  to  be 
observed  by  the  pupils.     And  the  duties  of  the  boards  are 

(9) 


10  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

prescribed  by  law,  or  if  a  private  school,  such  as  a  college, 
by  the  bodies  creating  them.  So  teachers  and  boards  are  a 
part  of  the  school,  and  are  required  to  do  certain  things,  just 
as  the  pupils  are  required  to  do  others.  That  is  school 
government. 

With  those  illustrations  in  mind,  as  explanatory,  we  are 
ready  to  define  government.  To  govern  is  to  direct  and 
control;  to  regulate  by  authority;  to  restrain;  to  establish 
and  maintain  order.  Government  is  the  act  of  governing; 
it  is  the  mode  of  governing;  it  is  the  exercise  of  authority; 
it  is  an  attempt  to  establish  and  maintain  order.  There  is 
government  in  the  home,  government  of  the  church,  govern- 
ment of  the  school,  government  of  the  city,  government  of 
the  county,  government  of  the  state,  and  government  of  the 
nation,  and  all  are  attempts  to  establish  order,  avoid  con- 
fusion and  discord,  and  bring  about  concerted  action;  and  that 
is  accomplished  by  the  establishment  of  rules,  regulations  or 
laws,  and  investing  certain  persons  or  officers  with  authority 
to  compel  their  observance. 

What  is  meant  by  government  in  this  book  is  government 
of  the  nation,  the  state,  and  of  counties,  cities  and  schools  in 
the  state;  it  is  that  public  authority  which  regulates  and  de- 
termines the  personal  and  property  rights  of  all  the  people 
within  the  nation  or  state,  or  any  of  its  smaller  divisions.  It 
consists  of  laws  and  officers,  and  the  methods  by  which  the 
laws  are  enacted  and  enforced.  Government,  then,  is  or- 
ganized public  authority. 

1.  Reasons  for  Government. — The  Declaration  of  In- 
dependence proclaimed  that  all  men  are  endowed  by  their 
Creator  with  certain  "unalienable  rights,"  or  rights  that 
cannot  be  taken  from  them,  and  that  "among  these  are  life, 
liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness,"  and  that  "to  secure 
these  rights  governments  are  instituted  among  men."  This 
is  a  comprehensive  reason  for  government.  The  purpose  of 
government  is  to  protect  the  people  in  their  right  to  "life, 


GENERAL  PRINCIPLES.  11 

liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness."  Government  does 
not  give  life  or  liberty;  those  are  Heaven-born  rights.  But 
government  may  aid  every  man  in  using  his  life  and  liberty 
in  an  orderly  and  useful  way,  and  it  has  the  right  to  say  that 
he  shall  not  so  use  either  as  to  transgress  upon  the  life  or 
liberty  of  another.  Its  purpose  is  to  aid  all  men  in  a  just 
and  intelligent  pursuit  of  happiness;  and  that  is  the  real 
reason  for  government — in  order  that  men  may  justly  and 
intelligently  use  their  lives  and  liberty  in  the  pursuit  of 
happiness.  Without  government  life  would  be  insecure, 
liberty  uncertain,  property  valueless,  and  the  various  pursuits 
of  industry  impossible.  All  civilized  peoples  have  had  govern- 
ment in  some  form,  and  the  better  they  have  become  the  more 
firmly  established  have  been  their  governments. 

2.  Forms  of  Government. — In  this  age  the  principal 
governments  may  be  divided  into  two  classes,  monarchies 
and  republics.  The  word  monarchy  means  the  rule  of  one 
man,  the  government  of  one  person.  In  such  a  nation  all 
power  resides  in  and  proceeds  from  one  monarch.  There 
have  been  nations  in  which  the  ruler,  styled  king,  despot, 
emperor,  czar,  shah  or  sultan,  had  absolute  power  of  life 
and  death  over  the  people.  He  made  his  decrees  for  their 
control,  interpreted  them  as  he  wished,  and  enforced  them 
according  to  his  own  caprice.  He  took  the  lives  of  his  sub- 
jects at  will,  appropriated  their  property  at  pleasure  and  main- 
tained his  authority  by  force.  Such  a  government  is  usually 
called  an  absolute  monarchy  or  despotism.  It  cannot  exist 
where  the  people  are  generalfy  educated,  and  knowing  their 
rights  have  the  courage  to  maintain  them.  But  perhaps  no 
important  nation  at  this  time  can  be  said  to  be  an  absolute 
monarchy.  Not  many  years  ago  Russia  and  China  were 
such.  But  in  them  and  all  other  great  nations  the  people 
are  more  and  more  taking  the  government  into  their  own 
hands;  and  in  the  worst  big  nations  officers  chosen  by  a 
part  of  the  people,  at  least,  have  a  part  in  enacting  laws, 


12         CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

which  limit,  in  some  respects,  the  absolute  will  of  the 
ruler. 

A  limited  monarchy  is  a  government  in  which  the  powers 
of  the  monarch  are  limited  by  laws.  These  are  enacted  by 
a  parliament  whose  members  have  been  chosen  by  the  people, 
or  a  part  of  them,  or  established  by  the  people  in  some  other 
way,  and  are  enforced  by  courts.  In  some  limited  monarchies 
there  is  a  constitution,  or  a  charter  of  rights,  to  which  the 
monarch  must  submit.  The  monarch,  in  such  cases,  is  at 
the  head  of  the  executive  branch  of  the  government,  and  is 
called  king  or  emperor.  England  is  the  best  example  of  a 
limited  monarchy.  For  more  than  eight  hundred  years  she 
has  had  a  hereditary  king  or  queen,  but  since  King  John's 
time  her  people  have  had  their  bill  of  rights,  or  the  Magna 
Charta  (the  Great  Charter),  and  for  centuries  she  has  had 
a  Parliament,  consisting  of  the  House  of  Lords  and  the  House 
of  Commons,  to  enact  laws  for  the  kingdom,  and  courts  to 
enforce  those  laws.  But  the  powers  of  the  sovereign  are  not 
the  same  in  any  two  limited  monarchies.  In  England  they 
are  largely  formal  and  perfunctory;  in  Germany,  they  are 
extensive  and  great. 

An  oligarchy  means  government  by  a  few  men.  The 
word  aristocracy  literally  means  the  rule  of  the  best,  and 
an  aristocracy  means  government  by  the  principal  persons 
of  the  state.  At  the  present  time  there  is  in  reality  no  nation 
on  earth  where  the  government  is  distinctly  an  aristocracy 
or  oligarchy;  but  a  distinguishing  feature  of  all  monarchies 
is  that  the  people  are  divided  into  classes,  and  one  class  is 
its  aristocracy.  Thus,  in  England  the  House  of  Lords  is 
composed  of  persons  who  have  inherited  the  title  of  lord 
from  an  ancestor,  or  had  it  bestowed  upon  them  by  the  king 
or  queen  for  some  distinguished  service  in  war,  or  letters, 
or  in  the  affairs  of  state  or  church.  In  all  monarchies  certain 
persons  enjoy  special  privileges  denied  to  others.  The  'idea 
behind  such  distinctions  is  that  only  a  few  persons  are  capable 


GENERAL  PRINCIPLES.  13 

of  sharing  in  the  fashioning  or  the  administration  of  govern- 
ment ;  that  those  few  are  capable  because  of  their  noble  birth 
or  great  wealth  or  wide  learning  or  some  other  accident  of 
life;  that  it  is  unsafe  and  unwise  to  grant  to  the  great  mass 
of  mankind  the  right  to  share  in  the  making  and  administra- 
tion of  government,  although  they  must  bear  its  burdens; 
and  that  unusual  favors  and  privileges  are  to  be  enjoyed  by 
those  few  who  are  capable. 

A  republic  is  a  government  by  representatives  chosen  by 
the  people.  It  is  sometimes  called  a  government  by  laws. 
These  laws  are  made  by  representatives  chosen  by  the  people, 
and  are  enforced  by  officers  chosen  by  the  people,  or  appointed 
by  other  officers  who  have  themselves  been  chosen  by  the 
people.  The  people  are  the  source  of  all  power  in  a  republic. 
Whatever  power  the  government  has,  has  been  given  it  by 
them.  They  can,  in  an  orderly  and  prescribed  way,  lessen 
or  increase  that  power  when  they  choose.  Their  laws  do  not 
divide  the  people  into  classes.  No  one  has  inherited  a  title 
or  special  privilege  from  an  ancestor.  All  persons  are  equal 
before  the  law.  Its  purpose  is  to  give  to  all  equality  of  right 
and  opportunity.  The  laws  are  attempted  to  be  framed  so 
as  to  give  all  persons  an  equal  chance  to  pursue  whatever 
useful  occupation  they  may  wish.  In  intelligence,  in  man- 
hood, in  abilities,  in  social  position  they  may  be  very  unequal. 
But  their  legal  rights  are  the  same.  The  United  States 
presents  the  best  example  of  a  republic  ever  known.  France 
and  Brazil,  and  other  nations  of  South  America,  also  have 
republican  governments,  but  less  perfect  than  ours. 

A  government  directly  by  the  people  would  be  a  pure 
or  primary  democracy.  In  such  a  government  all  the  people 
would  come  together  in  general  council  and  enact  laws,  and 
in  the  same  way  enforce  them.  There  would  be  no  repre- 
sentatives chosen  by  them  to  act  for  them,  but  they  would 
act  for  themselves,  and  each  would  have  equal  powers.  They 
would  in  a  general  council  choose  some  of  their  number  to 


14         CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

do  a  certain  public  work  directed  by  them  to  be  done,  such 
as  the  paving  of  a  street  or  the  building  of  a  bridge,  and  fix 
the  terms  and  compensation  for  doing  it.  Such  a  government 
might  be  made  successful  and  efficient  in  a  very  small  nation ; 
but  in  a  country  of  extensive  territory  and  a  large  population 
it  would  be  impossible.  A  republican  form  of  government, 
therefore,  where  laws  are  enacted  and  enforced  by  representa- 
tives chosen  by  the  people  to  act  for  them,  is  the  most  efficient 
and  just,  and,  in  the  end,  the  fairest  and  fullest  expression  of 
popular  will. 

3.  The  Progress  of  Government. — Through  all  the 
ages  the  people  contended  with  their  kings  for  a  greater 
share  in  government.  Enlightened  men  dislike  to  have  all 
power  vested  in  one  man  or  a  few  men.  They  are  fond 
of  self-government  or  a  government  of  their  own  fashion- 
ing. But  among  most  nations  in  early  times  all  authority 
was  lodged  in  one  person,  and  the  people  enjoyed  only  such 
powers  as  he  chose  to  give  them  or  as  they  forced  him  to 
yield  to  them.  As  the  people  have  become  stronger  and  more 
capable  of  self-government,  they  have  forced  their  kings 
to  permit  them  to  share  more  and  more  in  the  affairs  of 
government,  or  have  replaced  them  with  officers  of  their 
own  selection.  This  has  been  the  contest  of  all  the  past. 
It  has  been  an  issue  between  democracy  and  imperialism, 
and  democracy  has  gradually  won,  and  now  in  all  enlightened 
nations  the  people — the  whole  people — are  more  and  more 
admitted  to  be  the  rightful  source  of  governmental  au- 
thority. If  they  are  to  exercise  such  exalted  powers  they 
must  be  wise,  and  educated,  and  just,  and  virtuous. 

4.  Whence  Come  Its  Powers. — The  Declaration  of 
Independence  further  declares  that  governments  derive 
"their  just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed."  This 
is  an  underlying  principle  in  America.  Government  here  is 
a  creation  of  the  people.  It  has  no  authority  it  does  not 
derive  from  the  people.     It  is  established  and  maintained 


GENERAL  PRINCIPLES.  15 

by  the  people  for  their  own  good.  This  consent  of  the  peo- 
ple is  found  in  the  laws  of  the  land.  The  laws  have  been 
made  by  lawmakers  chosen  by  the  people,  and  the  people 
are  bound  to  submit  to  the  laws  so  made  until  repealed  by 
the  same  law-making  body,  or  declared  by  the  courts  to  be 
in  conflict  with  their  Constitution  and  therefore  not  laws 
at  all. 

5.  What  Consent  Means. — But  "consent  of  the  gov- 
erned" does  not  mean  that  men  can  refuse  to  have  any 
government  at  all.  Government  is  necessary  for  the  happi- 
ness of  mankind.  It  does  not  mean  that  every  man  must 
consent  before  the  government  can  exercise  any  authority. 
The  consent  of  every  man  could  never -be  obtained.  It 
means  that  the  government  is  the  kind  that  the  great  mass 
of  the  people  have  established  for  themselves.  It  means 
that  the  laws  passed  and  enforced  are,  for  the  time  being, 
the  expression  of  their  will,  and  being  such,  it  is  the  duty 
of  all  men  to  yield  to  its  authority  and  support  its  institu- 
tions. 

Questions  on  Chapter  I. 

L  Illustrate  government  by  the  home,     (la) 

2.  Illustrate  it  by  the  school,     (la) 

3.  What  is  government?     (la) 

4.  What  government  is  discussed  in  this  book?     (la) 

5.  Can  you  define  government  in  one  short  sentence?     (la) 

6.  What  does  the  Declaration  of  Independence  say  governments 

are  for?     (1) 

7.  What  would  be  the  result  of  no  government?     (1) 

8.  Into  what  two  great  classes  are  governments  divided?     (2) 

9.  What  is  an  absolute  monarchy?     (2) 

10.  A  limited  monarchy?     (2) 

11.  An  oligarchy?     (2) 

12.  An  aristocracy?     (2) 

13.  What  is  characteristic  of  all  monarchies?     (2) 

14.  What  is  a  republic?     (2) 

15.  What  would  be  a  pure  or  primary  democracy?     (2) 

16.  What  conflict  has  progressed  through  the  ages?     (3) 


16  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

17.  Whence  come  the  just  powers  of  government?     (4) 

18.  Why  is  government  maintained?     (4) 

19.  In  what  is  the  consent  of  the  people  expressed?     (4) 

20.  What  does  "consent  of  the  governed"  not  mean?     (5) 

21.  What  does  it  mean?     (5) 

22.  What  is  the  duty  of  all  men?     (5) 


CHAPTER   II. 

♦CHARTER  AND  COLONIAL  GOVERNMENTS. 

6.  Government  a  Development. — A  better  understand- 
ing of  our  government  as  it  is  today  will  be  reached  if  we 
trace  its  origin  and  development.  Was  our  government  the 
invention  of  a  few  men  who  met  in  convention  in  Philadelphia 
in  17S7  and  in  less  than  five  months  evolved  out  of  their  own 
minds,  as  an  original  creation  of  their  brain,  a  constitution, 
unlike  any  that  ever  existed  before,  and  under  which,  with 
few  material  changes  therein,  the  United  States  have  grown 
from  about  three  and  a  half  millions  of  people  to  over  one 
hundred  millions,  and  have  become  one  of  the  greatest 
nations  of  all  time?  No.  Government  is  a  growth.  It  is 
a  development,  a  result  of  forces  that  have  small  beginnings, 
but  which  work  on  and  on  through  centuries,  and  even 
thousands  of  years.  Constitutions  are  a  growth  as  well. 
"Through  all  the  ages,"  from  the  time  the  first  English 
settlers  started  to  America  in  search  of  civil  and  religious 
liberty,  "one  increasing  purpose  runs,"  and  that  purpose  has 
been  to  establish  a  government  that  would  be  strong  enough 
to  maintain  justice,  order  and  peace,  and  at  the  same  time 
make  sure  and  permanent  the  civil  and  religious  liberties  of 
the  people.  In  tracing  that  growth  we  shall  see  how  our 
republican  form  of  government  has  gradually  unfolded;  how 

♦Note. — In  this  chapter  the  author  has  followed  the  plan  of  development 
of  John  FIsko  In  his  excellent  "I'ivil  Government  of  the  United  States,"  pub- 
Uabed  by  Houghton,  Miiflin  &  Co.,  Boston. 


CHARTER  AND  COLONIAL  GOVERNMENTS.  17 

it  began  in  small  concessions  from  the  English  kings,  and  how 
the  people  in  America  as  they  seized  hold  of  each  conceded 
right  held  it  within  their  grasp,  and  more  and  more  came 
to  consider  themselves  the  source  of  all  governmental  power; 
and  how  the  charters  granted  by  the  kings,  as  the  people's 
bills  of  rights  during  the  colonial  days,  were  later  enlarged 
into  constitutions,  and  the  colonies  into  states;  and  how 
those  states  were  consolidated  into  a  nation,  and  those  con- 
stitutions used  as  patterns'  for  the  construction  of  a  Con- 
stitution or  chart  for  the  authority  of  that  nation. 

7.  The  Charters. — In  a  repubUc  the  Constitution  is  the 
fundamental  or  organic  law  of  the  nation  or  a  state.  It  is 
its  chart,  by  which  all  its  legislative  or  other  acts  are  bounded. 
The  germ  of  a  written  constitution  existed  a  long  time  ago. 
We  are  indeJDted  to  the  ancient  Romans  for  it.  It  originated 
in  a  custom  among  them  of  regulating  things  by  contracts. 
In  this  country  business  and  all  affairs  of  life  are  regulated 
by  contracts  or  agreements,  but  we  owe  that  idea  to  the 
Romans.  "It  was  after  they  had  become  thoroughly  familiar 
with  the  idea  of  a  contract,"  says  the  learned  John  Fiske  in 
his  Civil  Government  of  the  United  States,  "that  the  practice 
grew  up  of  granting  written  charters  to  towns  or  other  cor- 
porate bodies."  These  charters  were  a  kind  of  contract.  For 
a  certain  amount  of  money  to  be  paid  or  a  certain  number 
of  soldiers  or  ships  to  be  furnished,  or  for  some  other  valuable 
thing,  certain  privileges  or  liberties  were  granted  to  the  town 
by  the  king  or  feudal  lord.  What  he  granted  to  the  town  or 
company  he  expressed  in  a  written  paper,  signed  by  himself, 
called  a  charter.  The  people  sometimes  called  them  "the 
title-deeds  of  their  liberties."  And  that  is  just  what  a  con- 
stitution is — it  is  the  charter  of  the  people's  rights.  From 
the  idea  behind  these  town  charters  came  the  Magna  Charta — 
the  Great  Charter — of  English  liberty,  in  1215,  in  which 
King  John  was  forced  to  grant  "to  an  accused  the  right  to  a 
trial  by  a  jury  of  his  own  peers"  and  to  concede  to  his  barons 


18         CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

many  other  privileges  and  liberties.  From  these  town 
charters,  also,  came  the  idea  which  in  later  times  prevailed 
in  England  for  nearly  two  hundred  years  of  granting  to  settle- 
ments in  the  New  World  certain  priyileges.  A  charter  then 
came  to  mean  "a  grant  made  by  the  sovereign  either  to  the 
whole  people  or  to  a  portion  of  them,  securing  to  them  the 
enjoyment  of  certain  rights." 

8.  The  First  Charter.— In  1606  two  great  joint  stock 
companies  were  organized  in  England,  the  London  Company 
and  the  Plymouth  Company,^  for  the  purpose  of  establishing 
settlements  in  North  America.  To  the  London  Company 
the  king,  James  I.,  granted  the  coast  between  latitudes  34° 
and  38°  north,  or  between  the  southeastern  corner  of  what 
is  now  North  Carolina  and  the  mouth  of  the  Potomac.  The 
grant  was  to  include  all  the  territory  between  these  two  lati- 
tudes westward  to  the  Pacific  ocean_.  It  therefore  was  a 
belt  or  zone  four  degrees  wide  from  sea  to  sea.  To  the 
Plymouth  Company  he  granted  the  coast  between  latitudes 
41°  and  45°,  or  from  about  the  site  of  the  present  city  of 
New  York  to  the  southern  boundary  of  New  Brunswick. 
It,  too,  included  all  the  territory  from  the  Atlantic  to  the 
Pacific.  The  zone  which  lay  between  these  two  was  open 
to  both  companies,  with  the  exception  that  neither  should 
make  a  settlement  within  100  miles  of  one  already  made  by 
the  other.  To  these  companies  the  king  gave  one  charter, 
in  which  he  declared  "that  all  persons,  being  our  subjects, 
which  shall  go  and  inhabit  within  the  said  territory,  and  their 
children  and  posterity  which  shall  happen  to  be  born  within 
any  of  the  limits  thereof,  shall  have  and  enjoy  all  liberties, 
franchises  and  immunities  of  free  denizens  and  natural  sub- 
jects within  any  of  our  other  dominions,  to  all  intents  and 
purposes  as  if  they  had  been  abiding  and  born  within  our 
realm  of  England."  By  this  charter  persons  born  within 
any  of  the  three  zones  were  given  the  same  political  rights 
as   English   freemen   born   in    England.     Upon   these   rights 


CHARTER  AND  COLONIAL  GOVERNMENTS.  19 

the  colonists  in  America  ever  afterwards  insisted,  and  when 
George  IIL,  in  1765-1775,  undertook  to  take  those  rights 
from  them,  they  resisted,  first  by  solemn  protest  often  re- 
peated, and  later,  when  protest  had  failed  and  he  tried  to  force 
them  to  yield  to  his  violation  of  their  charter  rights,  by  going 
to  war  with  him. 

9.  The  Settlement  in  Virginia. — ^The  first  settlement 
was  made  by  the  London  Company,  and  in  the  lower  belt, 
on  the  James  River  in  Virginia,  in  1607;  and  as  the  charter 
guaranteed  to  them  the  same  privileges  as  were  enjoyed  by 
freemen  of  England,  trial  by  jury  was  secured  to  the  colo- 
nists, and  lands  descended  in  Virginia  as  they  did  in  Eng- 
land, that  is,  to  the  oldest  son.  In  1619  the  colonists  in 
Virginia  obtained  a  modification  of  their  charter  by  which 
a  representative  government  was,  in  part,  secured.  By 
the  terms  of  the  charter  the  London  Company  was  to  be 
controlled  by  a  council  in  England  appointed  by  the  king, 
and  this  council  in  turn  appointed  a  governor  for  the  colony 
and  a  council  of  thirteen  to  reside  in  the  colony,  and  now  by 
this  amendment  was  added  a  general  assembly  composed  of 
two  burgesses  from  each  settlement  or  borough,  elected  by 
the  inhabitants.  The  people  supposed  they  were  founding 
towns,  and  so  they  called  each  member  of  their  assembly 
a  burgess,  that  is,  a  representative  of  a  borough  or  town,  and 
they  called  the  general  assembly  of  their  representatives  the 
House  of  Burgesses;  but  as  the  years  went  by  and  no  im- 
portant towns  were  built,  but  the  inhabitants  became  more 
and  more  planters  or  farmers,  counties  were  organized,  and 
thereafter  the  Burgesses  sat  for  counties.  Nevertheless,  the 
name  of  their  assembly  continued  to  be  known  as  the  House 
of  Burgesses  until  a  new  code  of  laws  was  established  during 
the  Revolutionary  War.  It  was  a  truly  representative  body, 
and  the  first  legislative  body  that  ever  sat  in  America,  its 
first  session  being  at  Jamestown,  July  30,  1619.  It  con- 
trolled the  expenditure  of  public  money  raised  by  taxation, 
and  determined  the  amount  of  general  taxes  to  be  annually 


20         CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

raised  for  the  colony.  It  was  the  lower  house  of  the  legislative 
assembly.  "The  Governor  always  had  a  Council  to  advise 
with  him  and  assist  him  in  the  execution  of  his  duties,  in 
imitation  of  the  King's  Privy  Council  in  England,  and  this 
Council  took  part  in  the  work  of  legislation,  and  thus  sat  as 
an  upper  house,  with  more  or  less  power. of  amending  the 
acts"  of  the  House  of  Burgesses,  and  it  and  the  governor 
were  considered  as  representing  the  king  and  as  expressing 
his  wishes,  and  hence  his  will  was  always  potent,  but  never- 
theless the  Burgesses  never  ceased  to  insist  on  the  terms  of 
their  charter  which  gave  them  the  same  political  privileges 
and  liberties  Englishmen  enjoyed  at  home. 

It  is  necessary  to  note  that  the  Council  were  never 
elected  by  the  people,  but  after  a  time  were  appointed  by 
the  Governor;  and  that  the  Governor  was  at  first  appointed 
by  the  London  Company,  but  later  by  the  king,  and  hence 
thereafter  Virginia  was  called  a  "Crown  Colony,'*  since  the 
Governor  and  Council  were  supposed  to  speak  the  will  of 
the  crown  or  king  of  England. 

10.  In  Massachusetts. — ^The  next  settlement  was  in 
Massachusetts,  in  the  northern  zone,  and  its  colonial  gov- 
ernment was  also  organized  in  part  under  the  charter  granted 
to  the  London  and  Plymouth  companies,  but  more  largely 
under  a  charter  granted  in  1629  to  the  "Governor  and  Com- 
pany of  Massachusetts  Bay  in  New  England."  The  free- 
men of  this  company  were  to  hold  a  meeting  four  times  a 
year  and  were  empowered  to  elect  a  governor  and  a  council 
of  eighteen  assistants,  who  were  to  hold  their  meetings  each 
month.  Although  the  company  was  organized  in  London, 
nothing  was  said  as  to  the  pjace  where  these  meetings  were 
to  be  held,  and  "accordingly  after  a  few  months  the  company 
transferred  itself  and  its  charter  to  New  England,  in  order 
that  it  might  carry  out  its  intensions  with  as  little  interfer- 
ence as  possible  on  the  part  of  the  king."  After  their  arrival 
in  Massachusetts  the  number  of  freemen  increased  so  fast 


CHARTER  AND  COLONIAL  GOVERNMENTS.  21 

that  it  was  impossible  to  have  a  primary  assembly  of  all  the 
freemen,  and  so  the  freemen  of  each  town  or  township  chose 
representatives  to  act  for  them,  and  a  representative  assem- 
bly was  thus  originated.  These  representatives  were  called 
Deputies.  They  did  not  sit  for  counties,  as  in  Virginia,  but 
for  towns  or  townships,  and  so  from  that  day  to  this  the 
"town  meeting"  has  been  an  important  part  of  New  England 
government.  These  Deputies  at  first  sat  in  the  same  cham- 
ber with  the  Council  of  Assistants  and  with  them  constituted 
the  legislative  body,  but  in  1644  the  legislature  was  divided 
into  two  chambers,  the  Deputies  forming  the  lower  house, 
while  the  Assistants,  who  were  also  called  Magistrates,  com- 
posed the  upper  house.  This  legislative  body  was  called 
the  General  Court,  a  name  the  legislature  of  Massachusetts 
bears  to  this  day.  It  was  not  only  the  legislative,  but  at  the 
first  the  highest  judicial  body  of  the  colony,  and  hence  the 
reason  for  calling  it  the  General  Court. 

It  will  be  seen  that  this  government  was  practically  an 
independent  republic.  The  freemen  elected  their  Governor 
and  their  Deputies,  and  the  Magistrates  were  nominated 
by  the  General  Court  and  chosen  by  the  people.  A  people 
who  can  make  laws  for  themselves  are  independent,  and  if 
those  laws  are  made  by  representatives  chosen  by  themselves, 
and  enforced  by  governors  or  other  officers  also  chosen  by 
themselves,  their  government  is  a  republic.  In  Massachusetts 
the  king  could  impose  no  effective  checks  upon  the  legisla- 
ture except  by  repealing  the  charter,  or  by  appointing  a 
Governor  and  Council  himself,  and  backing  them  up  with  an 
army  if  resisted.  Those  things  he  often  threatened  to  do, 
and  both  he  did  fifty  or  sixty  years  after  the  charter  to  the 
Massachusetts  Bay  Company  had  been  granted,  for  the  Gen- 
eral Court  permitted  only  members  of  the  Puritan  or  Con- 
gregational Church  to  vote,  a  thing  very  distasteful  to  the 
king.  So  in  1684  he  annulled  the  charter,  and  placed  the 
colony  under  a  military  viceroy;  but  eight  years  later,  or  in 


22         CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

1692,  a  new  charter  was  sent  over,  under  which  the  people 
were  allowed  to  elect  representatives  to  the  General  Court, 
as  before,  but  the  Governor  thereafter  was  to  be  appointed 
by  the  king,  and  all  acts  of  the  General  Court  were  to  be 
sent  to  the  king  for  his  approval.  Thus  the  government  of 
Massachusetts  became  similar  to  that  of  Virginia,  and  re- 
mained so  down  to  the  Revolution,  and  hence  both  of  these 
great  colonies  were  thereafter  known  as  "Crown  Colonies," 
because  they  were  under  the  king's  immediate  control.  But 
in  no  crown  colony,  or  in  any  other,  were  the  people  ever 
taxed  to  support  the  king  or  the  English  government.  In 
all  the  colonies  taxes  originated  with  that  part  of  the  legis- 
lature usually  denominated  "the  assembly,"  whose  members 
were  chosen  by  the  people,  and  those  assemblies  determined 
what  things  should  be  taxed,  and  how  much,  and  for  what 
purposes  the  taxes  should  be  expended. 

New  Hampshire,  which  at  the  first  was  practically  a 
part  of  Massachusetts,  was  in  1679  made  a  crown  colony. 

11.  Proprietary  Colonies. — In  1624  the  subservient 
courts  of  England,  at  the  request  of  the  king,  annulled  the 
charter  of  the  London  Company,  and  in  1635  the  Plymouth 
Company  surrendered  its  charter. .  This  proved  the  down- 
fall of  those  companies,  and  after  that  the  king  gave  lands 
in  America,  especially  those  lying  within  the  middle  zone, 
to  his  favorites.  He  thus  gave  Maryland  to  Lord  Baltimore, 
and  Pennsylvania  and  Delaware  to  William  Penn. 

The  charter  of  Maryland  invested  Lord  Baltimore  with 
very  extensive  privileges  and  powers  over  the  land  and  colo- 
nists. He  "was  made  absolute  lord  of  the  land  and  waters, 
could  erect  towns,  cities  and  ports,  make  war  or  peace,  levy 
tolls  and  duties,  establish  courts,  appoint  judges  and  other 
civil  officers,  and  pardon  offenders."  For  this  extensive 
grant  he  was  to  pay  the  king  a  small  tribute — two  Indian 
arrows  yearly  and  one-fifth  the  gold  and  silver  mined.  But 
he  could  make  laws  only  "with  the  assent  of  the  freemen  of 


CHARTER  AND  COLONIAL  GOVERNMENTS.  23 

the  province."  And  the  king  further  bound  himself  and 
his  successors  to  lay  no  taxes  or  customs  upon  the  people  of 
the  province.  He  gave  Baltimore  the  title  of  Lord  Propri- 
etary of  Maryland,  and  this  title  and  these  powers  were 
made  hereditary  in  his  family.  The  government  was  car- 
ried on  by  a  governor  and  a  legislature  of  two  houses.  The 
lord  proprietary  appointed  the  governor  and  the  members  of 
the  upper  house,  but  the  members  of  the  lower  house  here, 
as  in  Virginia  and  Massachusetts,  were  chosen  by  the  peo- 
ple, "and  in  accordance  with  the  time-honored  English 
custom  all  taxation  must  originate  in  this  lower  house." 

The  proprietary  government  of  Pennsylvania  was  some- 
what similar  to  Maryland's.  Penn  was  the  lord  proprietary, 
and  the  office  was  hereditary  in  the  Penn  family,  and  this 
officer  appointed  one  governor  for  both  Pennsylvania  and 
Delaware,  but  each  had  its  own  legislature  chosen  by  the 
people.  This  legislature  had  only  one  house.  The  council, 
which  was  appointed  by  the  proprietary  lord,  advised  the 
governor  and  aided  him  in  governing  the  province,  but  took 
no  part  in  legislation. 

These  two  colonies  were  called  proprietary  colonies  be- 
cause the  lands  were  granted,  not  to  a  company  or  the  set- 
tlers, but  to  a  feudal  lord,  who  appointed  their  governors 
and  exercised  almost  kingly  authority  over  them. 

12.  New  York  and  New  Jersey. — ^There  were  also 
other  crown  colonies  besides  Virginia,  Massachusetts  and 
New  Hampshire.  The  principal  ones  were  New  York,  New 
Jersey,  the  Carolinas  and  Georgia.  New  Netherland  was 
first  settled  by  the  Dutch,  but  in  1664  the  English  conquered 
it  from  them,  and  the  king  of  England  granted  it  to  his 
brother,  the  Duke  of  York,  and  thus  it  became  a  proprietary 
colony,  and  took  the  name  of  New  York,  but  in  1685  this 
same  duke  ascended  the  throne  as  James  II.,  and  so  New 
York  thereby  became  a  crown  colony,  its  governors  from 
that  time  on  being  appointed  by  the  king.     The  English  had 


24         CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

also  conquered  from  the  Dutch  the  country  lying  between 
the  Hudson  and  Delaware,  and  it  too  was  granted  to  the 
Duke  of  York,  who  in  turn  granted  it  to  two  of  his  friends, 
Berkeley  and  Carteret,  and  thus  marked  off  the  colony  of 
New  Jersey.  It  thus  became  for  a  time  a  proprietary  colony, 
sometimes  under  one  government,  sometimes  divided  be- 
tween two,  but  in  1702  the  rights  of  the  Jords  proprietary 
were  surrendered  to  the  king,  and  thereafter  New  Jersey 
was  a  crown  colony. 

13.  In  the  Carolinas  and  Georgia. — The  provinces 
of  North  and  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  were  carved  out 
of  territory  once  embraced  within  Virginia.  There  were 
among  their  settlers,  especially  in  South  Carolina,  some 
French  Huguenots,  but  the  government  of  all  the  provinces 
was  English.  At  first  this  was  proprietary,  but  proprietary 
governments  were  not  popular  in  America.  The  proprie- 
tary lords  usually  resided  in  England,  and  seldom  visited 
their  colonies.  They  looked  upon  them  as  sources  of  per- 
sonal income,  and  so  long  as  the  amounts  demanded  were 
peaceably  paid  they  took  little  interest  in  the  settlers  or 
their  affairs.  They  often  appointed  worthless  favorites  to 
office  in  the  colonies  for  whose  support  the  colonists  were 
taxed,  and  this  became  a  source  of  constant  contention  be- 
tween the  inhabitants  arid  their  lords  proprietary.  So  these 
proprietary  charters  were  after  awhile  surrendered  to  the 
king,  and  these  colonies  then  took  on  the  form  of  government 
which  Virginia  had.  That  is,  their  governors  were  appointed 
by  the  king,  and  hence  they  too  became  crown  colonies. 

But  there  was  yet  another  kind. 

14.  The  Republican  Colonies. — Connecticut  and  Rhode 
Island  were  early  settled  by  persons  from  Massachusetts 
and  it  was  very  natural  that  their  governments  were  like 
that  of  Massachusetts,  as  those  of  the  Carolinas  were  similar 
to  that  of  Virginia.  There  the  governors,  councils  and  as- 
semblies were  elected  by  the  people,  just  as  they  had  been  by 


CHARTER  AND  COLONIAL  GOVERNMENTS.  25 

the  freemen  of  each  town  in  the  early  days  of  Massachusetts. 
Thus  they  made  their  own  governments,  and  in  1662  these 
were  confirmed  by  charters  from  the  king,  and  these  charters 
were  never  repealed,  but  so  thoroughly  republican  were 
these  governments  that  they  remained  unchanged  until 
long  after  the  Revolution. 

15.  Marked  Features  of  Colonial  Governments. — ^Thus 
we  have  set  forth  the  three  kinds  of  government  that  ob- 
tained for  all  the  years  before  the  Revolution  among  the 
thirteen  colonies  that  first  formed  the  United  States  of 
America.  These  were:  first,  crown  colonies,  whose  gov- 
ernors the  king  appointed,  and  whose  laws  were  subject  to 
his  approval,  although  enacted  by  a  legislature,  one  house 
of  which  was  appointed  by  the  governor  and  the  other  chosen 
by  the  people;  second,  proprietary  colonies,  whose  governors 
and  councils  were  sfppointed  by  a  hereditary  lord,  but  whose 
laws  were  enacted  by  legislatures  chosen  by  the  people;  and, 
third,  republican  colonies,  whose  governors,  councilors  and 
legislators  were  chosen  by  the  people.  The  governments 
of  all  these  existed  under  charters  from  the  king,  and  those 
charters  always  fixed  a  boundary  to  the  king's  authority, 
and  also  to  the  people's  rights.  We  shall  see  further  on  how 
the  people  of  the  various  colonies  enlarged  the  governments 
which  had  grown  up  under  these  charters  into  independent 
States  existing  under  written  constitutions,  and  then  organ- 
ized those  States  into  a  nation  called  the  United  States  of 
America. 

Questions  on  Chapter  II. 

1.  Is  government  an  invention  or  a  development?     (6) 

2.  What  purpose  runs  through  American  history?     (6) 

3.  In  what  did  written  constitutions  originate?     (7) 

4.  Who  granted  charters  and  what  for?     (7) 

5.  What  did  a  charter  come  to  mean?     (7) 

6.  To  what  companies  were  the  first  American  charters  granted?  (8) 

7.  What  was  granted  to  the  London  Company?     (8) 


26  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

8.  What  to  the  Plymouth  Company?     (8) 

9.  What  about  the  zone  lying  between  these  two?     (8) 

10.  What  guaranty  did  this  charter  contain?     (8) 

11.  What  rights  did  America  obtain  by  that  charter?     (8) 

12.  What  was  the  first  settlement?     (9) 

13.  What  two  things  were  secured  through  their  charter?     (9) 

14.  How  was  Virginia  to  be  governed  under  their  charter?     (9) 

15.  What  great  privilege  came  as  a  result  of  a  modification  of  the 

charter?     (9) 

16.  Why  did  the  people  call  their  assembly  the  House  of  Burgesses? 

(9) 

17.  How  long  did  the  House  of  Burgesses  last?     (9) 

18.  What  was  the  House  of  Burgesses?     (9) 

19.  What  did  it  always  cofitrol  and  determine?     (9) 

20.  Where  was  the  next  settlement?     (10) 

21.  Under  what  charter?     (10) 

22.  How  were  the  governor  and  council  chosen?     (10) 

23.  Why  did  they  abandon  their  primary  assembly?     (10) 

24.  What  is  said  about  a  primary  democracy  in  section  2? 

25.  What  did  the  Massachusetts  freemen  substitute  for  their  pri- 

mary assembly?     (10) 

26.  What  did  the  deputies  represent?     (10) 

27.  What  is  said  about  town  meetings?     (10) 

28.  How  was  the  legislature  divided?     (10) 

29.  What  was  it  called  and  why?     (10) 

30.  How  were  the  deputies,  assistants  and  governor  elected?     (10) 

31.  What  kind  of  government  was  this?     (10) 

32.  How  could  the  king  thwart  the  legislature?     (10) 

33.  What  changes  did  the  new  charter  make?     (10) 

34.  What  kind  of  colony  did  Massachusetts  now  become?     (10) 

35.  What  were  the  proprietary  colonies?^  (11) 

36.  What  powers  did  the  king  give  to  Baltimore?     (11) 

37.  How  was  the  Maryland  legislature  composed  and  chosen?     (11) 

38.  Where  did  taxes  originate  in  Maryland?     (11) 

39.  What  is  said  of  Pennsylvania  and  Delaware?     (11) 

40.  Why  were  these  called  proprietary  colonies?     (11) 

41.  What  other  crown  colonies  were  there?     (12) 

42.  What  is  said  of  New  York?   Of  New  Jersey?     (12) 

43.  Of  Georgia  and  the  Carolinas?     (13) 

44.  What  was  the  character  of  their  government  and  what  is  said 

of  lords  proprietary?     (13) 

I      45.  Describe  the  republican  colonies.     (14) 


I 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  AMERICAN  STATES.  27 

46.  State  the  difference  between  the  three  classes  of  colonies.     (15) 

47.  WTiat  purpose  did  the  charter  serve?     (15) 

48.  Into  what  were  charter  governments  enlarged?     (15) 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  RISE  OF  THE  AMERICAN  STATES  AND  THE  UNION. 

16.  The  Breaking  Up  of  Colonial  Governments. — In 
each  colony  the  people  were  taxed  for  the  support  of  the  colo- 
nial government,  and  the  assemblies  chosen  by  them  had 
almost  from  the  beginning  determined  how  much  that  tax 
should  be  and  for  what  purposes  the  money  should  be  used. 
They  would  not  permit  their  governor  or  their  king  to  de- 
termine those  things  for  them.  Their  charters  guaranteed 
them  the  right  to  determine  those  things  for  themselves. 
They  claimed  that  no  taxes  could  be  imposed  on  English 
freemen  anywhere  except  by  representatives  chosen  by  the 
people.  No  colony  had  ever  had  a  representative  in  the 
Parliament  of  England,  and  hence  the  colonies  always  in- 
sisted that  neither  the  king  nor  Parliament  had  any  authority 
to  impose  taxes  on  them.  "Taxation  without  representation 
is  intolerable  and  unjust,'*  they  said;  and  this  claim  went 
undisputed  until  about  1765,  and  then  when  Parliament 
began  to  enact  laws  taxing  them,  the  assemblies  disputed  its 
authority,  and  called  on  the  people  not  to  pay  the  taxes. 
Thus  began  a  contest  over  the  authority  of  Parliament  to 
tax  the  colonies  which  lasted  for  ten  years  and  culminated 
in  the  Revolutionary  War. 

A  law  enacted  by  the  Parliament  fixed  the  salaries  of  the 
colonial  governors  and  judges",  and  to  pay  these  salaries  im- 
posed taxes  on  certain  articles  shipped  into  America,  among 
others  a  tax  of  three  pence  a  pound  on  tea.  The  king  ap- 
pointed commissioners  at  the  various  ports  to  collect  the 
taxes  as  the  ships  came  in.  To  aid  the  commissioners  and 
to  suppress  any  resistance  among  the  people,  armies  Were 


28         CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

brought  over  from  England,  and  quartered  in  the  principal 
towns,  and  the  taxes  were  also  to  be  used  in  supporting  these 
armies.  The  tax  was  small,  and  it  was  not  its  amount  to 
which  the  people  objected,  but  it  was  a  principle  for  which 
they  contended,  and  that  was  that  they  could  not  be  taxed 
at  all  without  their  consent.  For  Parliament  to  impose  any 
tax  whatever  would  be  to  violate  their  charters.  A  free 
people  will  not  be  forced  by  armies  or  soldiers  from  across 
three  thousand  miles  of  sea  to  tamely  and  quietly  submit 
to  a  persistent  violation  of  their  constitutional  rights. 

In  November,  1773,  three  ships  loaded  with  tea  sailed 
into  Boston  harbor.  A  hundred  citizens  or  more  boarded 
them  and  threw  the  tea  into  the  sea.  This  has  ever  since 
been  known  as  the  ''Boston  Tea  Party. ^  The  purpose  was 
to  give  notice  that  the  colony  would  resist  even  by  force 
any  attempt  of  the  king  and  Parliament  to  violate  their 
charter.  They  would  not  be  compelled  to  pay  taxes  which 
had  not  been  imposed  by  their  own  representatives,  nor  to 
support  by  taxation  officers  whom  they  had  not  chosen  or 
armies  quartered  on  them  without  their  consent.  But  their 
act  was  a  defiance  of  Parliament.  They  had  disobeyed  its 
law,  and  disputed  its  authority;  force  had  been  used,  rebellion 
had  begun,  and  independence  would  soon  follow  unless 
Boston  were  subdued.  All  parties  in  England  agreed  that 
they  must  be  punished.  It  was  not  thought  the  other 
colonies,  or  the  other  towns  in  Massachusetts,  would  support 
Boston  in  its  bold  defiance  of  Parliament  and  the  king.  But 
they  did;  and  we  must  now  trace  the  steps  by  which  united 
action  was  brought  about. 

16a.  Conventions. — In  Virginia  and  Massachusetts  the 
action  of  the  legislative  assemblies  in  disputing  Parliament's 
right  to  tax  the  colonies  and  to  force  them  to  yield  to  its 
authority,  brought  down  on  them  the  resentment  of  the 
governors,  who  retaliated  by  dissolving  the  assemblies. 
"During  the  few  years  preceding  the  Revolution,  the  assem- 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  AMERICAN  STATES.  29 

blies  were  so  often  dissolved  by  the  governors  that  it  became 
necessary  for  the  people  to  devise  some  new  way  of  getting 
their  representatives  together  to  act  for  the  colonies."  New 
assemblies,  to  which  the  people  chose  delegates  or  represent- 
atives, were  thus  brought  into  existence.  At  first  they  were 
called  conventions.  In  Massachusetts  and  one  or  two  other 
colonies  they  were  called  "the  provincial  congress."  Through 
them  in  time  the  people  established  new  legislatures  of  their 
own,  and  in  the  end  complete  governments  of  their  own. 
The  way  this  was  done  will  be  illustrated  by  setting  forth 
what  went  on  in  Virginia. 

17.  Provisional  Governments. — When  the  House  of 
Burgesses  passed  resolutions  making  the  cause  of  Massachu- 
setts their  own,  and  calling  on  all  the  colonies  to  do  the  same, 
the  governor  dissolved  the  Assembly.  A  few  of  the  bolder 
members,  like  Thomas  Jefferson,  Patrick  Henry  and  Richard 
Henry  Lee,  immediately  met  at  a  hotel  and  agreed  upon  a 
line  of  action,  and  having  made  that  known  to  the  people 
they  were  promptly  re-elected.  On  re-assembling,  the 
House  of  Burgesses  was  again  dissolved  by  the  governor, 
for  taking  action  in  opposition  to  the  tax  laws  and  the  other 
oppressive  acts  of  the  king.  These  same  patriots,  now 
joined  by  others,  again  assembled  at  the  hotel  and  again 
agreed  upon  a  line  of  action  for  the  colony.  They  called  on 
all  the  counties  to  send  delegates  to  a  convention  to  be  held 
at  Williamsburg,  the  capital  of  the  colony.  That  was  done, 
and  the  convention  began  to  devise  a  plan  of  government 
that  would  exclude  the  king  and  Parliament  from  exercising 
any  authority  in  the  colony.  That  was  a  radical  movement; 
a  movement  towards  independence.  The  people  of  Vir- 
ginia were  almost  unanimously  for  it,  but  one  colony  could 
not  alone  succeed  in  it.  It  could  be  made  to  succeed  only 
by  united  action  among  all  the  colonies.  Then  the  members 
of  the  convention  opened  their  eyes  wider,  and  saw  that  the 
same  desire  for  united  action  was  stirring  the  other  colonies. 


30         CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

and  hence  they  elected  delegates  to  a  Continental  Congress 
to  be  held  in  Philadelphia  in  September,  1774. 

But  the  movement  in  Virginia  went  on.  In  the  spring 
of  1775,  the  governor,  Lord  Dunmore,  who  had  been  ap- 
pointed by  the  king,  was,  by  an  armed  force  under  Patrick 
Henry,  driven  from  his  palace,  and  took  refuge  on  a  war 
ship,  having,  however,  before  his  flight  convened  the  House 
of  Burgesses,  which,  after  having  called  another  session  of 
the  convention  and  thereby  lent  authority  to  its  existence, 
adjourned  in  July,  1775,  and  this  was  the  end  of  the  House 
of  Burgesses.  It  never  afterwards  held  another  session. 
The  convention  called  by  it  appointed  a  "Committee  of 
Safety,"  consisting  of  eleven  distinguished  men,  to  take 
charge  of  the  executive  affairs  of  the  colony.  Dunmore, 
after  being  defeated  in  battle,  returned  to  England,  and  so 
the  convention  at  its  next  session  in  May  adopted  a  bill  of 
rights  and  a  written  constitution — the  first  adopted  in 
America.  This  constitution  provided  for:  (1)  a  legislative 
body  consisting  of  a  house  of  delegates  and  a  senate,  to  be 
elected  by  the  owners  of  land;  and  (2)  a  governor;  (3)  a 
council  of  eight  members;  and  (4)  trial  courts  and  an  ap- 
pellate court,  all  to  be  chosen  by  the  Assembly,  or  this  legis- 
lative body.  Patrick  Henry  was  chosen  the  first  governor. 
Thus  Virginia  became  an  independent  republic.  There  were 
no  more  governors  appointed  by  the  king.  Henceforth  the 
people  would  govern  themselves,  under  a  constitution  and 
laws  of  their  own  making. 

18.  The  Rise  of  the  States. — In  Massachusetts,  New 
York  and  other  colonies  the  governors  appointed  by  the  king 
were  put  aside  in  much  the  same  way  as  in  Virginia.  Com- 
mittees of  safety  were  appointed  to  manage  the  affairs  of  the 
colony  until  a  convention  chosen  by  the  people  met  and  framed 
a  written  constitution,  under  which  the  people  chose  their  own 
legislature  and  governor  and  provided  for  their  own  courts. 
The  word  "colony"  now  disappeared.     Each  began  to  call 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  AMERICAN  STATES.  31 

itself  a  "State"  or  "Commonwealth,"  and  from  that  time  on 
they  have  been  so  designated.  An  independent  republic  is 
not  a  colony;  it  is  a  commonwealth,  or  a  state. 

19.  The  Formation  of  the  Union. — But  the  successful 
breaking  away  of  the  colonies  from  the  dominion  of  the  king 
left  each  free  to  go  its  own  way.  There  was  no  central 
authority  to  bind  and  hold  them  together.  Each  was  free 
to  defy  the  king  single-handed  and  alone,  and  to  try  to  make 
a  separate  nation  of  itself,  absolutely  independent  of  all  the 
other  colonies  and  of  all  the  rest  of  the  world;  or  it  could  if 
the  other  colonies  were  willing  unite  with  them  in  winning 
their  independence  and  in  a  permanent  union.  The  col- 
onies were  quick  to  see  that  they  could  succeed  in  their  war 
only  by  uniting.  Their  interests  were  the  same,  their  griev- 
ances much  the  same,  their  inhabitants  very  much  alike  in 
speech,  religion,  blood  and  love  of  liberty,  and  England  was 
powerful.  "United  we  stand,  divided  we  fall,"  they  said. 
The  same  men  who  led  the  people  into  resisting  the  king  and 
Parliament  also  led  them  towards  forming  a  union.  To 
trace  the  various  steps  it  will  be  necessary  to  go  back  a  little. 

20.  The  First  Attempt.— "In  1754,  just  as  the  final 
struggle  between  the  French  and  English  in  America  was 
beginning,  Benjamin  Franklin  brought  forward  his  famous 
plan  for  a  federal  union,"  in  order  that  the  colonies  might 
act  in  concert  in  that  coming  struggle  with  the  French;  and 
that  plan  was  laid  before  a  congress  held  in  Albany,  New 
York.  Seven  colonies  were  represented  at  that  congress,  by 
twenty-five  delegates,  who  unanimously  assented  to  Frank- 
lin's plan,  which  was  that  the  common  interests  of  the  colonies 
should  be  cared  for  by  a  congress  of  delegates  chosen  by  their 
several  assemblies,  and  by  a  "president-general"  appointed 
and  paid  by  the  English  king,  who  was  to  have  power  to  veto 
any  act  of  the  proposed  congress.  The  king  and  his  ministers 
had  suggested  the  holding  of  this  congress,  but  the  plan  was 
rejected  by  them  because  they  thought  it  gave  too  much 


32         CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

power  to  the  congress,  and  the  colonial  assemblies  rejected 
it  because  they  thought  it  gave  too  much  power  to  the  presi- 
dent-general. This  was  the  first  time  the  word  "congress" 
was  applied  to  an  American  body;  and  while  no  union  was 
formed,  ideas  of  united  action  were  suggested  by  the  attempt 
which  were  not  forgotten  as  the  troubles  of  the  colonies  thick- 
ened during  the  next  twenty  and  even  thirty-five  years. 

21.  The  Colonial  Congress. — Soon  after  Parliament 
had  in  1765  passed  the  hateful  Stamp  Act,  which  was  the 
first  real  attempt  by  it  to  impose  taxes  on  the  colonies,  it  was 
proposed  in  Boston,  under  the  lead  of  James  Otis,  that  a 
general  congress  of  all  the  colonies  be  held,  to  be  composed 
of  delegates  from  each  colony  chosen  without  leave  of  the 
king.  South  Carolina  was  the  first  to  respond  to  that  call. 
In  response  to  it  there  was  held  in  New  York,  on  October  7, 
1765,  what  has  since  been  known,  for  want  of  a  better  name, 
as  "the  Colonial  Congress."  It  met  before  some  of  the  colo- 
nies had  received  notice  of  the  call,  but  nevertheless  delegates 
from  nine  colonies  were  present.  Nothing,  however,  was 
done  beyond  the  drawing  up  of  a  declaration  of  rights  in  which 
it  was  declared  that  the  American  colonies  would  not  consent 
to  be  taxed  except  by  their  own  representatives. 

22.  The  Continental  Congress. — In  the  spring  of  1773, 
the  Virginia  House  of  Burgesses,  "sensible  that  the  most 
urgent  of  all  measures  was  that  of  coming  to  an  understanding 
with  all  the  colonies,  to  consider  the  British  claims  as  a  com- 
mon cause,  and  to  produce  a  unity  of  action,"  devised  a  plan 
for  "committees  of  correspondence"  between  the  colonies. 
Out  of  this  action  grew  the  Continental  Congress.  A  "com- 
mittee of  correspondence,"  of  which  Peyton  Randolph,  the 
Speaker  of  the  Burgesses,  was  chairman,  was  appointed, 
which  prepared  a  circular  letter  to  the  speakers  of  the  as- 
semblies of  the  other  colonies.  The  other  colonies  eagerly 
fell  in  with  the  plan,  and  thus  each  legislative  body  was  kept 
constantly  informed  of  what  was  going  on  in  all  the  other 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  AMERICAN  STATES.  33 

colonies.  By  this  means  a  mutual  understanding  was  brought 
about.  United  action  was  the  result.  From  that  time  on 
the  colonies  more  and  more  acted  together. 

For  the  purpose  of  punishing  Boston  for  the  "Tea  Party" 
and  the  open  defiance  of  its  authority  (spoken  of  in  section 
16),  Parliament,  in  the  spring  of  1774,  undertook  to  shut  up 
the  Boston  port  against  all  ships,  suspended  the  charter  of 
Massachusetts,  and  required  the  chief  offenders  to  be  sent 
to  England  for  trial.  These  were  tyrannical  acts.  They 
were  intended  not  only  to  suspend  all  charter  rights — the 
main  right  of  the  people  to  control,  through  their  chosen 
representatives,  the  internal  affairs  of  the  colony — but  to 
compel  them,  by^  destroying  their  trade  and  by  other  acts 
of  oppression,  to  submit  to  being  governed  according  to  the 
unrestricted  will  of  Parliament  and  the  king.  The  patriots 
of  Massachusetts,  led  on  by  Samuel  Adams,  determined  to 
resist.  They  called  upon  the  other  colonies  to  stand  with 
them.  The  call  was  heard.  The  response  was  general  and 
spontaneous. 

In  Virginia  the  leading  patriots  determined  to  "stand 
in  line  with  Massachusetts,"  and  their  committee  of  corre- 
spondence proposed  to  like  committees  in  the  other  colonies 
"to  appoint  deputies  to  meet  in  congress  annually,  at  such 
place  as  should  be  convenient."  The  other  colonies  acceded 
to  the  plan,  and  Philadelphia  was  chosen  as  the  place,  and 
September  5,  1774,  as  the  time,  of  the  first  meeting.  Every 
colony  except  two  was  represented.  The  delegates  or  "depu- 
ties" were  men  of  large  abilities.  George  Washington  was 
one  of  them.  They  drew  up  a  memorial  to  the  king  and 
people  of  Great  Britain  for  a  radical  change  of  policy  towards 
the  colonies.  It  was  so  earnest,  so  moderate  in  tone,  so  fair 
in  its  demands  for  justice  and  so  outspoken  in  its  quiet  de- 
termination, that  many  friends  for  the  colonies  were  gained 
by  it,  not  only  in  Parliament,  but  on  both  sides  of  the  sea. 
The  Congress  remained  in  session  seven  weeks,  and  then  ad- 


34  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

journed  to  meet  again  in  May,  1775,  if  their  prayer  for  redress 
failed.  Their  well  expressed  memorial  did  not  change  the 
mad  course  of  Parliament  or  the  haughty  king,  and  so  on 
reassembling  the  Congress  organized  the  Continental  Army, 
elected  George  Washington  its  commander,  and  authorized 
him  to  use  it  in  defense  of  any  colony  which  might  be  attacked 
by  the  king's  troops.  It  was  called  "continental"  because 
the  desire  was  that  every  colony  on  the  continent  would  send 
delegates  to  it,  and  also  to  distinguish  it  from  "provincial 
congresses"  or  conventions  which  had  lately  been  held  in 
some  of  the  colonies.  It  was  not  a  parliament;  it  was  a 
congress,  that  is,  an  assembly  composed  of  delegates  of  the 
States;  for  Thomas  Jefferson  tells  us  that  they  came  with 
"instructions  very  temperately  and  properly  expressed" 
which  had  been  given  them  by  the  convention  or  legislature 
choosing  them,  and  these  instructions  defined  and  limited 
their  authority.  They  were  expected  to  obey' them,  and  to 
undertake  to  do  nothing  that  they  did  not  authorize  them 
to  do. 

After  its  session  in  1775,  to  which  all  the  thirteen  colonies 
sent  delegates,  the  Continental  Congress  became  a  continuous 
body  until  it  became  apparent  that  the  new  Constitution 
providing  for  the  Congress  now  existing  in  Washington 
would  be  adopted,  and  then  in  1788  it  went  out  of  existence, 
having  died  of  old  age. 

23.  Independence. — On  July  4,  1776,  the  Continental 
Congress  proclaimed  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  in 
which  it  declared  that  all  political  connection  between  "these 
United  Colonies"  and  Great  Britain  "is  and  ought  to  be  totally 
dissolved."  This  declaration  would  be  made  good  if  the  colo- 
nies won  the  war  then  waging.  If  they  won,  they  would  in 
fact  be  "free  and  independent  States."  They  did  win,  and 
hence  "all  political  connection"  with  Great  Britain  was  at 
an  end. 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  AMERICAN  STATES.  35 

24.  National  Unity. — That  political  connection  had 
given  them  a  national  unity.  They  had  all  been  American 
colonies  in  subjection  to  the  English  king,  and  his  admitted 
authority  over  each  had  been  the  tie  that  bound  them  to- 
gether as  a  part  of  a  great  nation.  But  that  bond  was  now 
broken,  that  authority  they  had  thrown  off,  and  now  they 
had  no  * 'political  connection'*  with  any  other  nation  or  with 
each  other.  They  were  much  alike,  they  had  locked  arms 
and  were  now  fighting  their  common  king,  and  meant  to  live 
under  laws  of  their  own  making,  but  they  were  not  united 
into  a  nation.  They  were  not  only  "free  and  independent 
States,"  but  they  were  independent  of  each  other,  separate 
from  each  other.  They  had  come  together  in  Continental 
Congress  for  the  purpose  of  fighting  the  war.  That  alone 
made  their  united  efforts  a  mere  league,  which  could  be  dis- 
solved when  the  war  was  over.  But  if  they  were  to  become 
a  nation  they  must  unite  with  each  other  permanently,  must 
form  a  political  bond  that  would  bind  them  together,  not 
only  for  the  war,  but  for  all  time.  They,  therefore,  under- 
took to  form  a  "perpetual  union  between  the  States,"  but 
they  were  long  in  doing  it.  They  tried  it  through  two  writ- 
ten constitutions.  The  first  was  the  Articles  of  Confedera- 
tion. 

25.  The  Articles  of  Confederation. — Four  days  after 
the  committee  was  appointed  to  prepare  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  another  was  named  to  frame  "articles  of  con- 
federation and  perpetual  union"  between  the  thirteen  States, 
but  it  was  November  15,  1777,  before  the  Continental  Con- 
gress agreed  upon  what  those  articles  should  contain.  They 
were  to  be  binding  on  all  the  States  when  the  legislative  as- 
sembly of  each  of  the  thirteen  authorized  its  delegates  in  Con- 
gress to  sign  the  Articles  on  behalf  of  their  State.  This  was 
not  done  until  the  first  of  March,  1781,  and  even  then  it  was 
found  that  "the  perpetual  union"  the  Articles  provided  for 


36         CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

was  a  rope  of  sand.     They  created  a  mere  confederacy  be- 
tween the  States  and  not  a  real  government. 

They  provided  for  a  Congress  to  consist  of  one  house  and 
to  be  composed  of  not  more  than  seven  nor  less  than  two 
delegates  from  each  State,  to  be  annually  chosen  as  the  legis- 
lature thereof  should  direct.  But  the  delegates  voted  by 
States  and  not  as  individuals,  that  is,  each  State  had  one  vote, 
and  how  that  vote  was  to  be  cast  was  decided  by  a  majority 
of  its  delegates,  and  it  took  the  vote  of  nine  States  to  enact 
a  law  or  pass  a  bill.  The  Articles  provided  for  no  President, 
but  for  only  a  ''Committee  of  the  States,"  to  consist  of  one 
member  from  each  State,  to  act  for  the  Confederacy  during 
the  recesses  of  Congress.  The  Congress  had  no  authority  to 
levy  taxes  or  impost  duties.  Money  to  carry  on  the  war  and 
to  pay  the  other  expenses  of  the  Confederacy  was  to  be  fur- 
nished by  the  several  States,  in  proportion  to  the  amount  of 
land  sold  or  surveyed  for  private  persons  within  each  State. 
The  Congress  determined  each  State's  share,  and  the  legis- 
lature thereof  was  required  to  levy  a  tax  on  its  inhabitants 
for  that  amount,  but  if  a  State  refused  to  make  the  levy  the 
Congress  had  no  way  to  punish  it  or  to  collect  the  tax.  The 
Congress  was  given  power  to  enact  laws  on  many  subjects, 
but  if  these  were  violated  the  Confederacy  had  no  power  to 
punish  the  violators,  for  the  Articles  provided  for  no  courts. 
The  Congress  had  contracted  a  very  large  debt  to  carry  on 
the  war,  and  when  it  called  on  the  States  to  furnish  it  money 
to  pay  this,  several  of  them  refused,  and  it  was  without  power 
to  compel  them  to  pay.  Therefore,  an  amendment  was  pro- 
posed, which  would  give  Congress  authority  to  impose  and 
collect  an  impost  or  tariff  tax  of  five  per  cent.  But  the 
Articles  themselves  provided  that  they  could  be  amended  only 
by  the  vote  of  every  State,  and  Rhode  Island  held  back. 
So  the  Congress  became  a  thing  without  power.  It  was  not 
a  sovereign,  for  no  government  is  a  sovereignty  that  cannot 
raise  taxes  for  its  own  support.     It  could  not  pay  its  debts, 


I      THE  RISE  OF  THE  AMERICAN  STATES.  37 

and  had  no  authority  to  force  the  collection  of  money  for  any 
purpose,  and  no  authority  to  punish  any  State  which  failed 
to  keep  faith  with  the  rest.  The  "Continental  money" 
which  it  issued  became  practically  worthless,  and  the  authority 
of  the  Confederacy  was  sneered  at  and  derided  on  every  hand. 
Its  power  began  to  wane  immediately  on  the  restoration  of 
peace,  and  continued  to  do  so  until  it  began  to  look  as  if  the 
union,  which  the  Articles  had  said  should  be  perpetual,  would 
fall  to  pieces. 

26.  A  Second  Constitution  is  Framed. — It  was  ap- 
parent that  a  new  constitution  must  be  framed  or  a  union  of 
the  States  abandoned.  As  a  result,  an  attempt  to  "form  a 
more  perfect  union"  was  begun.  In  addition  to  the  utter  fail- 
ure of  the  Confederacy  and  of  the  proposal  to  amend  and  patch 
up  the  Articles  of  Confederation,  two  or  three  other  things 
united  to  hasten  on  that  attempt  and  to  fasten  public  atten- 
tion on  the  necessity  of  a  union  strong  enough  to  stand  alone. 

The  first  of  these  was  the  Shays  Rebellion  in  Massachu- 
setts in  the  fall  of  1786.  That  State  as  a  result  of  the  war  was 
heavily  in  debt,  as  all  the  others  were,  and  the  taxes  it  levied 
on  land  were  excessive,  and  the  homes  of  the  people  were 
being  sold,  under  orders  of  the  courts,  not  only  to  pay  taxes 
but  their  private  debts  as  well.  Daniel  Shays,  late  a  captain 
in  the  Continental  Army,  rallied  a  large  number  of  farmers 
and  citizens  of  small  means  in  the  western  part  of  the  State, 
and  openly  defied  the  laws  and  resisted  the  authority  of  the 
courts.  For  some  time  neither  the  sheriff  nor  the  governor 
was  strong  enough  to  put  down  these  rebels,  and  their  suc- 
cess alarmed  the  friends  of  order  throughout  the  land  and 
hastened  on  the  movement  for  a  government  strong  enough 
to  preserve  order. 

The  other  was  a  conflict  in  the  tariff  laws  made  by  the 
several  States.  Under  the  Articles  of  Confederation  each 
State  could  levy  such  impost  duties  as  it  pleased  upon  goods 
shipped  to  it  directly  from  foreign  countries,  but  could  not 


38         CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

impose  any  duties  upon  goods  shipped  to  it  from  other  States. 
Virginia  laid  duties  on  certain  foreign  articles,  but  Maryland 
did  not.  So  it  came  about  that  goods  were  landed  in  Maryland 
free  of  duty,  and  then  sent  across  the  Potomac  or  Chesapeake 
into  Virginia,  free  of  duty  again,  because  now  they  came  from 
a  sister  State.  Thus  the  tariff  laws  of  Virginia  were  dodged 
and  made  inoperative.  To.  remedy  this  condition,  the  legis- 
latures of  both  States  in  1785  appointed  commissioners  to 
meet  and*  adjust  their  mutual  rights.  But  when  these  came 
together  it  was  found  that  a  similar  condition  might  arise  at 
any  time  between  Pennsylvania,  Delaware  and  New  Jersey, 
and  therefore  one  of  them,  James  Madison,  who  had  for  some- 
time been  planning  for  a  convention  to  devise  a  new  scheme 
of  union,  induced  the  commissioners  to  agree  to  ask  their  re- 
spective legislatures  to  invite  these  three  States  to  also  send 
commissioners  to  a  convention  to  be  held  in  Annapolis  in 
September,  1786.  But  when  Madison  returned  home  he  in- 
duced Virginia  to  extend  the  invitation  so  as  to  include  all 
the  States.  Alexander  Hamilton  stirred  up  New  York 
to  send  delegates  also,  but  before  the  time  came  for  the  con- 
vention Maryland  drew  back.  The  convention  was  held  at 
Annapolis  at  the  appointed  time,  but  there  were  delegates 
present  from  only  five  States — Virginia,  New  York,  New  Jer- 
sey, Pennsylvania  and  Delaware.  They  did  little  except  to 
formally  recommend  to  all  the  States  to  send  delegates  to 
another  convention  to  be  held  in  Philadelphia  in  May,  1787, 
to  "devise  such  measures  as  would  render  the  Articles  of  Con- 
federation adequate  to  the  exigencies  of  the  Union." 

And  now  George  Washington  steps  forward  again  in  be- 
half of  his  country.  In  an  autograph  letter  to  Madison  he 
expressed  the  earnest  wish  that  "Virginia  would  take  the  lead 
in  promoting  the  great  and  arduous  work  of  reconstruction." 
"When  Virginia  lifted  the  golden  roll  of  her  delegates"  and 
showed  the  name  of  George  Washington  at  the  head  of  the 
column,  the  whole  country  thrilled  with  a  new  hope  and  a 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  AMERICAN  STATES.  39 

new  inspiration.  Pennsylvania  headed  her  list  with  the  name 
of  the  great  Benjamin  Franklin,  and  New  York  sent  Hamilton. 
When  the  convention  met  in  May,  1787,  there  were  55  dele- 
gates present  from  12  States,  Rhode  Island  alone  holding  aloof. 
George  Washington  was  elected  president,  and  his  name  ap- 
pears upon  the  Constitution  it  framed  as  its  first  signer.  This 
convention,  known  ever  afterward  as  the  Constitutional 
Convention,  represented  the  wisdom,  the  wealth,  the  educa- 
tion, the  conservatism  and  the  patriotism  of  the  States. 
Possibly  no  abler  or  wiser  body  of  men  ever  met  in  legislative 
council  in  the  wide  world.  The  local  jealousies  and  the  con- 
flicting interests  of  the  several  States  contended  with  each 
other,  and  the  fear  that  a  government  might  be  formed  which 
would  become  an  unmanageable  tyrant  made  the  delegates 
hesitant  and  cautious.  Often  they  were  on  the  point  of  dis- 
solving without  having  come  to  any  understanding,  but  then, 
as  at  all  other  times,  their  good  sense  and  patriotism  prevailed, 
and  before  adjournment  they  framed  a  constitution  which 
has  since  been  the  inspiration  and  admiration  of  liberty- 
loving  men  everywhere.  They  were  wiser  than  they  knew. 
The  federal  Union,  formally  inaugurated  as  a  result  of  their 
work,  has  become  the  mightiest  nation  in  the  world,  and  yet, 
although  there  have  been  seventeen  amendments,  there  have 
really  been  few  fundamental  changes  in  the  Constitution 
they  framed  even  to  this  day. 

27.  How  the  Constitution  Was  Framed. — ^James  Madi- 
son has  justly  been  called  the  "Father  of  the  Constitution," 
for  it  was  largely  written  by  him,  but  all  the  delegates  had 
some  part  in  framing  it,  notably  Edmund  Randolph  of  Vir- 
ginia, Hamilton  of  New  York,  Dickinson  of  New  Jersey, 
James  Wilson  and  Franklin  of  Pennsylvania,  Charles  Pinck- 
ney  of  South  Carolina  and  Roger  Sherman  of  Connecticut. 
The  Virginia  delegates  had  met  in  caucus  and  agreed  upon  a 
plan  of  union,  and  this  plan  was  brought  forward  on  behalf 
of  Virginia  by  Edmund  Randolph,  afterwards  the  first  Attor- 


40         CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

ney-General  of  the  United  States.  Other  delegates,  among 
them  Charles  Pinckney  of  South  Carolina  and  Alexander 
Hamilton  of  New  York,  brought  forward  other  plans,  but  it 
was  the  Virginia  plan,  which  had  really  been  written  by 
Madison,  that  became  the  basis  for  the  instrument  finally 
agreed  upon.  But  the  convention  remained  in  session  until 
September,  and  every  clause  in  the  Virginia  plan  was  consid- 
ered by  sub-committees  and  in  the  committee  of  the  whole, 
and  some  of  them  were  stricken  out  and  others  substituted 
in  their  stead,  and  others  modified.  So  that  the  instrument 
as  finally  submitted  for  ratification  cannot  be  said  to  be  the 
work  of  one  man,  nor  of  one  delegation,  but  of  all  the  dele- 
gates and  of  all  the  twelve  States  represented. 

28.  How  Adopted. — The  Constitution  provided  that 
"the  ratification  of  the  conventions  of  nine  States  shall  be 
sufficient  for  the  establishment  of  this  Constitution  between 
the  States  so  ratifying  it,"  and  March  4,  1789,  was  fixed  as  the 
day  for  commencing  the  operations  of  government  under  it. 
It  was  meant  to  supersede  the  Articles  of  Confederation.  It 
was,  therefore,  sent  by  the  Constitutional  Convention  to  the 
Continental  Congress,  eighteen  of  whose  members  had  been 
members  of  the  convention  which  framed  it.  The  Continen- 
tal Congress  directed  it  to  "be  transmitted  to  the  several  leg- 
islatures in  order  to  be  submitted  to  a  convention  of  delegates 
chosen  in  each  State  by  the  people  thereof."  It  was  thus 
really  submitted  to  the  people,  for  in  choosing  delegates  to 
their  conventions  the  people  in  each  State  decided  between 
candidates  who  had  declared  themselves  either  for  or  against 
its  adoption:  Eleven  States  through  their  conventions  had 
adopted  it  by  July  26,  1788.  Neither  North  Carolina  (Nov. 
21,  1789)  nor  Rhode  Island  (May  29,  1790)  adopted  it  until 
after  George  Washington  had  been  inaugurated  the  first  Pres- 
dent  (April  30,  1789),  and  hence  the  Government's  authority 
did  not  extend  to  those  States  until  they  had  done  so. 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  AMERICAN  STATES.  41 

The  clause  establishing  the  Constitution  only  "between 
the  States  so  ratifying  it"  was  its  salvation.  Without  that 
clause  it  could  never  have  been  adopted,  and  the  Union  would 
have  collapsed.  It  had  been  impossible  to  amend  the  Arti- 
cles of  Confederation,  because  that  instrument  required  the 
unanimous  consent  of  all  the  States,  and  Rhode  Island  had 
declined  to  give  its  consent,  and  now  the  same  State  had  not 
only  refused  to  send  delegates  to  the  Constitutional  Conven- 
tion, but  held  back  in  the  ratification  of  the  Constitution 
until  after  the  new  government  was  fairly  inaugurated.  Be- 
sides, it  was  only  after  a  long  and  painful  contest  that  Virginia 
and  New  York  were  brought  around  to  ratify  it.  Had  it 
required  the  adoption  of  every  State  it  is  likely  that  several 
would  have  rejected  it.  To  have  declared  it  in  force  over  all 
as  sooa  as  nine  had  adopted  it,  would  have  been  unjust  to  the 
State  refusing  its  assent  and  would,  therefore,  also  have  de- 
feated it.  The  provision  that  it  was  not  to  be  considered 
established  until  nine  States  adopted  it,  and  then  only  ''be- 
tween those  so  ratifying'  it,"  made  its  adoption  certain,  be- 
cause it  was  seen  from  the  beginning  that  as  soon  as  nine 
ratified  it  the  others  would  fall  into  line  and  do  the  same. 

The  fact  that  the  Continental  Congress  had  directed  the 
Constitution  to  be  submitted  to  the  States  for  ratification, 
shut  off  any  right  on  its  part  to  question  the  authority  of  the 
new  Constitution  after  it  had  been  adopted.  It,  therefore,  as 
soon  as  it  became  apparent  that  enough  States  would  ratify 
it  to  establish  a  government  thereunder,  adjourned  never  to 
meet  again. 

Thus  we  have. in  this  and  the  preceding  chapter  traced 
the  progress  of  the  Americans  towards  republican  government 
from  the  time  the  first  settlers  received  their  charters  from 
the  hands  of  English  kings  to  the  adoption  of  the  "Constitu- 
tion of  the  United  States  of  America."  In  the  succeeding 
chapters  will  be  explained  the  principal  features  of  that  Con- 
gtitutipn  ancj  the  various  parts  of  the  Government. 


42  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

And  here  it  will  be  well  to  remember  that  the  Union  or 
"political  connection"  which  resulted  from  the  adoption  of 
the  Constitution  was  formed  by  those  people,  and  those  only, 
that  lived  within  the  eleven  degrees  of  latitude  mentioned  in 
the  first  charter  to  the  London  and  Plymouth  Companies,  as 
described  in  the  first  few  sections  of  the  preceding  chapter; 
and  also  that  a  written  constitution,  although  adopted  by  the 
people  as  their  fundamental  law  and  framed  by  delegates 
chosen  by  them,  is  an  Enlargement  of  the  idea  contained  in  a 
charter,  and  that  a  charter  is  the  outgrowth  of  the  idea  that  is 
contained  in  a  contract — that  is,  that  it  is  a  chart  for  the  law- 
maker and  the  courts,  and  is  an  agreement  which  both  they 
and  the  people  are  bound  by  and  must  keep. 

Questions  on  Chapter  III. 

1.  On  what  right  did  the  colonists  ever  insist?     (16) 

2.  What  was  the  effect  of  trying  to  tax  them?     (16) 

3.  What  was  the  effect  of  their  resentment?     (16) 

3a.  Describe  the  Boston  "Tea  Party,"  its  purpose,  and  meaning.    (16) 

4.  After  their  assemblies  were  dissolved  how  did  the  people  devise 

to  carry  on  their  governments?     (16a) 

5.  Explain  fully  the  origin  of  provisional  government  in  Virginia. 

(17)  .    .  .      ' 

6.  What  were  the  four  distinctive  provisions  of  the  Virginia  Con- 

stitution?    (17) 

7.  What  is  said  of  provisional  government  in  other  States?     (18) 

8.  By  what  name  did  colonies  now  begin  to  be  called?     (18) 

9.  What  was  the  effect  of  breaking  away  from  the  king,  and  what 

the  need  of  union?     (19) 

10.  What  was  the  first  attempt  at  union?     (20) 

11.  What  is  said  of  the  Colonial  Congress?     (21) 

12.  Explain  fully  the  origin  and  work  of  the  "Committees  of  Corre- 

spondence."    (22) 

13.  What  is  said  of  the  Continental  Congress?     (22) 

14.  What  was  the  effect  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence?     (23) 

15.  What  had  been  the  tie  that  bound  the  colonies  together?     (24) 

16.  What  did  they  try  to  substitute  for  that  "political  connection?" 

(24) 

17.  What  was  the  first  written  constitution?    (24) 


THE  FUNDAMENTAL  LAW.  43 

18.  When  were  they  to  be  binding  on  all  the  States?     (25) 

19.  Did  they  create  a  real  government?     (25) 

20.  Explain  fully  why  they  did  not.     (25) 

21.  How  did  one  small  State  balk  the  union?     (25) 

22.  Why  was  not  the  Confederacy  a  sovereignty?  -  (25) 

23.  What  was  next  attempted?     (26) 

24.  Describe  the  first  cause  that  hastened  on  the  attempt.     (26) 

25.  Describe  each  step  of  the  second  cause.     (26) 

26.  What  great  men  figured  in  the  movement?     (26) 

27.  What  did  Washington  do?     (26) 

28.  What  is  said  of  the  Convention's  work?     (26) 

29.  Describe  how  the  Constitution  was  framed.     (27) 

30.  How  was  it  ratified?     (28) 

31.  Did  the  people  have  anything  to  say  about  its  adoption?    How? 

(28)^ 

32.  What  little  clause  probably  secured  its  adoption  and  why?     (28) 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  FUNDAMENTAL  LAW. 

29.  The  Authority  of  the  Constitution. — The  Con- 
stitution is  the  fundamental  law  of  the  United  States.  It  is 
the  supreme  law  of  the  land.  All  laws  of  Congress  or  of  any 
State  in  conflict  with  it  are  void,  and  every  officer  of  the 
Union  and  all  important  officers  of  the  States  are  required 
before  entering  into  office  to  take  an  oath  to  support  it.  How- 
ever much  a  new  law  may  be  desired  by  the  people,  if  it  is  in 
conflict  with  the  Constitution  it  must  fail,  and  the  only  way 
it  can  be  enacted  so  as  to  be  legally  enforced  is  by  first  chang- 
ing the  Constitution  itself,  which  can  be  done  only  in  the  way 
designated  by  it.  It  is  a  short  instrument,  covering  less  than 
twenty  pages  of  an  ordinary  book,  but  it  states  what  are  the 
powers  of  the  Union  over  its  citizens  and  over  the  States,  and 
its  general  duties  towards  them,  and  their  rights  thereunder. 
The  Union's  powers  are  enumerated  by  it,  and  in  return  for 
the  surrender  by  the  people  and  the  States  of  these  powers 
to  the  Union,  there  is  imposed  on  the  Union  the  duty  of  guar- 


44         CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

anteeing  to  each  State  a  republican  form  of  government  and 
the  preservation  of  certain  personal  and  property  rights  of 
its  citizens.  All  powers  not  delegated  by  it  to  the  Union,  nor 
prohibited  by  it  to  the  States,  it  declares,  are  reserved  to  the 
States  or  to  the  people.  It  is,  at  once,  the  charter,  the 
anchor,  the  bulwark,  the  high  tower  of  American  liberty. 

30.  Preamble. — ^The  reason  and  purposes  of  the  Con- 
stitution are  set  forth  in  a  few  short  clauses  at  its  beginning. 
These  are  called  the  Preamble,  and  are  in  these  words: 

"Wq,  the  people  of  the  United  States,  in  order  to  form 
a  more  perfect  union,  establish  justice,  insure  domestic 
tranquillity,  provide  for  the  common  defense,  promote  the 
general  welfare,  and  secure  the  blessings  of  liberty  to  our- 
selves and  our  posterity,  do  ordain  and  establish  this  Con- 
stitution for  the  United  States  of  America." 

Emphasis  placed  upon  one  or  more  clauses  of  this  Pre- 
amble, to  the  exclusion  of  the  others,  has  caused  the  formation 
of  parties,  and  led  to  heated  political  controversies.  One 
class  of  citizens  has  held  that  the  chief  duty  of  the  Union  is  to 
"promote  the  general  welfare,"  and  hence  have  advocated 
the  building  of  great  national  roads  and  the  ownership  of 
railroads,  by  the  Government,  and  the  complete  control  of 
all  trade  by  citizens  of  different  States  with  each  other,  and 
that,  in  total  disregard  of  the  States  and  State  lines,  the  Gov- 
ernment should  undertake  to  do  any  needful  thing  to  promote 
the  general  good,  such  as,  to  provide  education  and  profitable 
employment  for  every  person,  pensions  for  the  aged  and  un- 
fortunate, and  homes  for  the  sick  and  poor,  establish  uniform 
restrictions  oh  marriage  and  divorce,  and  fix  the  wages  and 
hours  of  work  of  all  laborers.  Another  class  has  contended 
that  to  "secure  the  blessings  of  liberty  to  ourselves  and  our 
posterity"  and  to  "provide  for  the  common  defense"  are  the 
only  reasons  for  a  national  government,  and  all  its  under- 
takings should  be  directed  to  those  ends,  and  that  the  control 
of  all  other  governmental  matters  should  be  left  to  the  States. 


THE  FUNDAMENTAL  LAW.  45 

But  it  is  not  right  to  thus  emphasize  any  particular  clause 
of  the  Preamble,  or  to  ignore  any  other  clause.  They  are  all 
equally  important. 

Besides,  the  Preamble  of  itself  does  not  enumerate  the 
powers  of  the  Union,  or  limit  the  powers  of  the  States.  It 
simply  sets  forth,  in  general  and  comprehensive  terms,  the 
great  purposes  for  which  the  Union  or  nation  was  being 
formed,  and  for  which  it  should  be  continued.  Having  an- 
nounced these  purposes  in  the  Preamble,  as  a  preface,  the 
Constitution  then  proceeds  to  enumerate  certain  powers  to 
be  exercised  by  the  Congress,  or  by  the  President,  or  by  the 
courts,  o^  certain  things  to  be  done  by  each  of  them;  and  it 
has  been  by  exercising  those  powers  that  many  of  those  be- 
neficent purposes  have  been  accomplished  by  the  thing  we  call 
the  Government  of  the  United  States  of  America.  Those 
purposes  are  very  high  and  honorable.  No  nation  could  well 
have  higher  or  better  ideals.  To  secure  the  blessings  of  liberty 
throughout  the  entire  land  for  all  time;  to  establish  absolute 
justice;  to  insure  friendly  peace  and  tranquillity  among  all 
the  States  and  all  their  inhabitants;  to  constantly  strive  to 
promote  the  general  welfare  of  the  whole  people  throughout 
hundreds  of  years;  and  to  defend  them  at  all  times  from  outside 
enemies,  are  high  national  ambitions,  and  the  best  purposes 
a  nation  can  have.  Our  Government  has  not  fully  accom- 
plished those  great  purposes;  it  has  not  yet  established  ab- 
solute justice;  it  has  not  fully  insured  domestic  tranquillity; 
it  has  not  always  striven  to  promote  the  general  welfare; 
but  to  accomplish  those  purposes  has  been  the  constant  aim 
of  the  great  mass  of  the  people,  and  no  other  great  nation 
in  the  world  has  done  so  much  towards  accomplishing  them. 
Such  great  principles  cannot  be  quickly  carried  into  accom- 
plished fact;  but  the  fine  thing  about  the  Constitution  is  that, 
as  its  first  words,  it  sets  before  the  nation  lofty  ideals  and  great 
purposes,  and  made  it  plain  that  each  succeeding  generation 


46         CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

was  to  try  to  push  them  a  Httle  further  towards  perfect  ac- 
compHshment. 

31.  Amendments. — But  the  Constitution  is  not  exactly 
as  it  was  when  first  adopted.  It  has  been  changed  by  adding 
to  it  seventeen  amendments.  These  have  the  same  force 
and  effect  as  the  original  Constitution.  They  were  made  a 
part  of  it  by  being  proposed  by  two-thirds  of  the  members 
of  both  houses  of  the  Congress  to  the  legislatures  of  the  several 
States,  and  by  being  ratified  by  the  legislatures  of  at  least 
three-fourths  of  the  States.  The  Constitution  itself  provided 
that  it  could  be  amended  in  that  way.  But  that  is  not  the 
only  way ;  if  either  house  of  Congress  should  become  stubborn 
and  refuse  to  propose  an  amendment  which  the  people  in 
as  many  as  two-thirds  of  the  States  really  want,  the  Con- 
stitution provides  a  way  by  which  its  submission  may  be 
forced.  Instead  of  the  amendment  being  proposed  by  two- 
thirds  of  both  houses  of  Congress,  the  legislatures  of  two- 
thirds  of  the  States  may  ask  Congress  to  call  a  convention 
for  the  purpose  of  proposing  amendments,  and  when  that  is 
done  Congress  is  bound  to  call  such  a  convention,  and  to 
submit  any  amendment  it  proposes,  to  the  legislatures  of 
the  several  States,  or  to  conventions  called  in  the  several 
States  for  the  purpose  of  considering  it,  and  if  it  is  ratified 
by  the  legislatures  of  three-fourths  of  the  States  or  by  three- 
fourths  of  such  conventions,  it  becomes  a  part  of  the  Con- 
stitution. An  amendment  is  considered  ratified  by  a  State 
when  a  majority  of  the  members  of  both  houses  of  its  legis- 
lature or  a  majority  of  the  members  of  the  convention 
(which,  of  course,  will  have  but  one  house)  vote  for  its  ratifi- 
cation. 

The  first  ten  amendments  were  proposed  to  the  various 
States  at  the  first  session  of  the  First  Congress  and  were 
proclaimed  to  be  in  force  on  December  15,  1791.  Some  of  the 
States,  notably  Virginia,  New  York  and  North  Carolina, 
would  not  adopt  the  Constitution  until  they  were  assured 


THE  FUNDAMENTAL  LAW.  47 

these  amendments  would  be  added.  They  have  been  styled 
its  "Bill  of  Rights.'*  They  are  not  quite  that,  though  that 
is  not  a  wholly  inapt  characterization.  They  did  not  take 
from  the  Government  of  the  United  States  any  power  which 
had  been  expressly  given  to  it  by  the  Constitution,  but  they 
affirmatively  state  that  the  powers  not  given  were  reserved 
by  the  States  or  by  the  people,  and  they  made  it  clear  and 
unmistakable  that  certain  fundamental  rights  of  citizens 
should  never  be  denied  by  the  Government,  and  that  it  should 
not  assume  to  enact  any  law  or  do  anything  that  would 
curtail  those  rights. 

The  Eleventh  Amendment  was  proclaimed  ratified  Jan- 
uary 8,  1798.  It  simply  prohibited  citizens  of  one  State  or 
of  a  foreign  country  from  suing  another  State  in  a  United 
States  court.  A  State  does  not  permit  its  own  citizens  to 
sue  it,  except  by  its  express  permission,  and  this  amendment 
simply  prohibits  a  citizen  of  another  State  or  of  a  foreign 
country  from  doing  what  the  State  will  not  permit  one  of  its 
own  citizens  to  do. 

The  Twelfth  Amendment,  proclaimed  ratified  September 
25,  1804,  changed  the  method  of  voting  by  presidential 
electors  for  President  and  Vice-President. 

There  were  no  more  amendments  for  more  than  sixty 
years.  Then  three  were  adopted  within  five  years.  They 
all  grew  out  of  the  Civil  War.  The  Thirteenth,  proclaimed 
ratified  December  18,  1865,  prohibited  slavery  throughout 
the  United  States  and  all  places  under  their  control.  The 
Fourteenth,  consisting  of  four  sections,  was  proclaimed 
ratified  July  28,  1868.  It  declared  that  all  persons  born  or 
naturalized  in  the  United  States  are  citizens  of  the  United 
States  and  of  the  State  wherein  they  reside.  It  forbade  any 
State  to  abridge  the  privileges  of  any  citizen  or  to  deprive 
any  person  of  life,  liberty  or  property  without  due  process 
of  law,  or  deny  to  any  person  the  equal  protection  of  the  laws. 
The  Fifteenth  Amendment,   proclaimed  ratified   March  30, 


48  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

1870,  forbade  any  State  to  deny  to  any  of  its  citizens  the  right 
to  vote  on  account  of  race,  color  or  previous  condition  of 
servitude. 

No  other  amendment  was  adopted  for  more  than  forty 
years,  and  then  two  were  added  the  same  year.  The  Sixteenth 
Amendment,  proclaimed  ratified  February  25,  1913,  authorized 
Congress  to  levy  a  tax  on  incomes  without  apportioning  it 
among  the  States.  The  Seventeenth,  proclaimed  ratified 
May  31, 1913,  requires  a  Senator  in  the  Congress  to  be  elected 
by  the  people  of  a  State,  instead  of  by  its  Legislature. 

All  these  amendments  will  be  given  due  consideration 
in  the  discussions  which  follow. 

32.  Divisions  of  the  Government. — The  Constitution 
provided  for  a  government  of  three  great  departments — the 
executive,  the  legislative  and  the  judicial.  The  judicial  de- 
partment consists  of  the  courts;  the  legislative,  of  Congress; 
and  the  executive,  of  the  President.  The  functions  of  each 
department  cannot  be  fully  stated  in  a  few  simple  words. 
But  in  general  terms  it  may  be  said  that  the  legislative  de- 
partment makes  the  laws,  the  judicial  interprets  therh,  and 
the  executive  enforces  them  as  thus  interpreted.  That  is 
the  usual  definition,  and  it  is  correct  as  far  as  it  goes;  but  it 
is  not  fully  accurate,  for  the  judicial  department  (which  means 
the  courts)  enforces  the  laws  by  applying  them  to  individuals 
who  are  parties  to  suits,  and  thereby  points  out  to  the  public 
their  meaning;  and  a  law  defining  the  duties  of  an  executive 
officer  may  be  so  plain  as  never  to  need  to  be  interpreted  by 
the  courts.  The  three  departments  are  necessary  for  the 
orderly  working  of  a  republican  government. 

Questions  on  Chapter  IV. 

L  What  is  the  fundamental  law  of  the  land?     (29) 

2.  Suppose  a  law  is  in  conflict  with  the  Constitution?     (29) 

3.  What  does  the  Constitution  guarantee  to  each  State?     (29) 

4.  What  powers  are  reserved?.    (29) 


THE  LEGISLATIVE  DEPARTMENT.  49 

5.  What  is  the  preamble?     (30) 

6.  What  parts  of  the  Constitution  are  binding?     (30) 

7.  How  many  amendments?     (31) 

8.  How  were  these  obtained?     (31) 

9.  Into  what  three  departments  is  the  government  divided?     (32) 
10.  What  in  general  terms  are  the  functions  of  each?     (32) 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  LEGISLATIVE  DEPARTMENT. 

33.  Congress. — The  legislative  powers  of  the  United 
States  Government  are  vested  in  the  Congress,  which  is  a 
law-making  body  composed  of  two  houses,  the  Senate  and 
the  House  of  Representatives.  The  Senate  is  sometimes, 
in  popular  phrase,  spoken  of  as  the  Upper  House,  and  the 
other  as  the  Lower  House.  But  neither  is  so  designated  in 
the  Constitution  or  laws,  and  as  they  meet  in  different  cham- 
bers situated  on  the  same  floor  of  the  Capitol  neither  is  upper 
or  lower  in  point  of  location.  These  words  are  supposed  by 
some  persons  to  designate  what  was  intended  at  the  first  to 
be  the  relative  rank  of  the  two  houses,  but  that  distinction 
finds  no  support  in  the  Constitution,  for  it  would  be  difficult 
to  determine  from  that  instrument  which  is  given  the  higher 
rank,  for  to  the  House  alone  is  given  the  power  to  originate 
bills  for  raising  revenue,  while  the  Senate  can  confirm  or 
reject  or  alter  treaties  made  by  the  President  with  other 
nations,  without  consulting  the  House,  and  treaties  are  a 
part  of  the  supreme  law  of  the  land.  The  truth  is,  that  the 
use  of  these  words  was  borrowed  from  the  custom  which 
prevailed  in  several  of  the  colonies  of  designating  the  Council, 
which  was  appointed  usually  by  the  Governor,  as  the  Upper 
House,  and  the  Assembly,  which  was  chosen  by  the  people, 
as  the  Lower  House.  But  the  kingly  days  have  gone,  and  the 
designation  of  the  two  houses  of  Congress  as  Upper  and 
Lower  has  long  since  ceased  to  have  any  real  significance, 


50         CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

although  the  use  of  the  words,  as  a  short  and  convenient 
method  of  designating  them,  still  survives,  though  not  so 
generally  of  late  years  as  formerly. 

34.  House  of  Representatives. — ^The  House  is  com- 
posed of  Representatives  elected  by  the  direct  vote  of  the 
people.  It  is,  therefore,  spoken  of  as  the  "popular  branch" 
of  Congress.  It  is  descended  from  the  colonial  assemblies, 
and  like  them  is  alone  vested  with  authority  to  originate 
measures  of  taxation.  Tariff  bills  and  other  bills  for  raising 
revenue  originate  in  the  House,  but  these  may  be  modified 
in  the  Senate,  and  nearly  always  are.  But  even  after  such 
changes  are  made,  the  House  yet  has  the  right  to  say  whether 
it  will  accept  them  or  not. 

Every  State,  however  few  its  inhabitants,  is  entitled  to 
at  least  one  Representative,  and  the  additional  number  to 
which  it  is  entitled  depends  on  the  whole  number  of  persons 
it  has,  excluding  Indians  not  taxed.  Each  organized  Territory 
is  entitled  to  one  delegate  in  the  House,  and  such  delegate 
has  all  the  privileges  of  a  Representative  except  that  of  voting. 
The  Representatives  vote  as  individuals  on  all  subjects, 
except  when  they  are  called  upon  to  decide  a  Presidential 
contest,  and  then  they  vote  by  States;  that  is,  in  such  case, 
which  fortunately  is  exceedingly  rare,  each  State  has  one  vote, 
and  what  that  vote  will  be  is  determined  by  the  majority  of 
its  Representatives. 

36.  Qualifications. — ^A  Representative  must  be  twenty- 
five  years  old,  must  have  been  a  citizen  of  the  United  States 
for  seven  years,  and  must  be  an  inhabitant  of  the  State  from 
which  he  is  elected,  but  need  not  be  a  resident  of  the  district 
by  which  he  is  chosen,  though  he  usually  is.  The  term  of  a 
Representative  is  two  years,  and  if  a  vacancy  occurs  another 
election  must  be  held  to  fill  it.  The  Governor  has  no  authority 
to  fill  such  vacancy  by  appointment,  as  in  case  of  a  vacancy 
in  the  Senate,  but  it  is  his  duty  to  call  a  special  election  for 


THE  LEGISLATIVE  DEPARTMENT.  51 

the  purpose,  at  the  time  prescribed  by  the  laws  of  the  par- 
ticular State. 

36.  The  Speaker. — The  presiding  officer  of  the  House 
is  the  Speaker.  The  title  is  borrowed  from  England  and  the 
colonial  assemblies.  For  centuries  the  presiding  officer  of 
the  House  of  Commons  in  England  had  been  styled  Speaker, 
because  he  was  the  House's  mouthpiece  or  spokesman  in 
addresses  made  by  it  to  the  king,  whose  favors  and  good 
graces  the  Commons  in  former  times  thought  it  necessary 
to  cultivate.  When  legislative  assemblies,  whose  members 
were  chosen  by  the  people,  were  organized  in  the  American 
colonies,  their  presiding  officers,  in  imitation  of  the  English 
custom,  were  called  Speakers;  and  when  the  Constitution  was 
framed,  it  was  natural  that  the  presiding  officer  of  the  House 
of  Representatives,  whose  members  were  to  be  chosen  directly 
by  the  people,  should  be  designated  therein  as  "their  Speaker," 
though  the  House  does  not  make  addresses  to  the  President, 
and  the  Speaker  is  in  no  sense  its  mouthpiece  except  that  he 
attests  or  signs  all  bills  which  pass  the  House,  and  all  bills 
that  pass  both  houses  are  laid  before  the  President  for  his 
approval  or  rejection. 

Once  in  two  years  the  Representatives  elect  one  of  their 
own  number  to  be  Speaker.  Until  late  years  he  was  usually 
permitted  to  appoint  all  the  House  committees,  and  by  that 
means  he  was  clothed  with  immense  power  in  shaping  legis- 
lation, and  came  in  time  to  be,  next  to  the  President,  the  most 
important  officer  of  the  Government.  But  the  House  has 
power  to  prescribe  the  mode  by  which  its  committees  are  to 
be  raised ;  it  can  at  any  time  prescribe  that  committee  assign- 
ments be  made  by  a  special  committee  of  members  chosen 
for  that  purpose,  or  be  made  by  the  House  itself,  or  be  made 
in  some  other  way;  and  of  late  years  they  have  been  made 
by  a  special  committee,  of  which  the  Speaker  may  or  may 
not  be  a  member.  This  mode  of  raising  the  committees  has 
somewhat  curtailed  his  powers;  but  it  is  still  his  duty  to 


62         CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

preserve  order  and  regulate  the  debates,  and  he  is  usually 
the  leader  of  his  party  in  the  House,  and  his  position  gives 
him  great  power  in  concentrating  the  attention  and  labors 
of  Representatives  on  certain  matters  of  governmental 
policy,  and  hence  he  is  a  most  important  officer  of  the  Govern- 
ment. 

37.  Number  of  Representatives. — For  the  purpose  of 
ascertaining  the  number  of  Representatives  to  which  each 
State  is  entitled,  the  Constitution  requires  that  a  census  of 
the  people  be  taken  every  ten  years,  or  that  they  be  counted, 
and  the  count  includes  the  whole  number  of  inhabitants 
except  Indians  not  taxed.  Congress  then  declares  that  each 
State  shall  have  for  the  next  ten  years  one  Representative 
for  a  certain  number  of  persons,  which  is  not  to  be  less  than 
30,000.  This  number  is  called  the  apportionment  unit,  and 
for  the  current  decade  is  about  211,877,  and  the  number  of 
Representatives  to  which  a  State  is  entitled  is  ascertained  by 
dividing  the  whole  number  of  its  inhabitants  by  that  unit. 
Missouri's  number  for  the  current  decade  is  16,  and  the  whole 
number  of  Representatives  is  435. 

37a.  Representative  Districts. — ^The  Constitution  pro- 
vides that  "the  times,  places  and  manner  of  holding  elections 
for  Senators  and  Representatives  shall  be  prescribed  in  each 
State  by  the  Legislature  thereof;  but  the  Congress  may  at 
any  time  by  law  make  or  alter  such  regulations."  Prior  to 
1872  each  State  could  elect  its  whole  number  of  Represent- 
atives from  the  State  at  large,  or  lay  off  the  State  into  dis- 
tricts and  elect  one  from  each,  according  to  its  own  will. 
But  since  that  time  the  Congress  has  directed  that  each 
State  be  divided  by  its  Legislature  into  as  many  districts 
as  it  is  entitled  to  Representatives,  and  that  one  Represent- 
ative, and  no  more,  be  elected  by  the  voters  of  each  district, 
except  that  for  the  first  Congress  after  an  apportionment  is 
made  all  the  additional  Representatives  to  which  a  State  is 
found  to  be  entitled  because  of  an  increase  in  its  population. 


Pma 


THE  LEGISLATIVE  DEPARTMENT. 


53 


may  be  elected  by  the  State  at  large.  This  exception  is  made 
because  it  often  occurs  that  after  the  new  apportionment  is 
made  to  a  State  there  is  no  meeting  of  its  Legislature  before 
the  next  election. 


CONGRESSIONAL  DISTRICTS 

MISSOURI 


1  0  Citf  of 

\  \  ST.  Loxns 

12  "'■"• 


Population  by  Counties.  Census  7910.         TOTAL  3^293^85 


810BE  r.  4  E.CO..  CHICISO 


CONGRESSIONAL  DISTRICTS  OF  MISSOURI,  1910  to  1921. 

In  1901  the  Legislature  of  Missouri  laid  off  the  State  into  16  Congressional 
districts,  all  of  which  are  clearly  shown  on  this  map,  except  those  within  St. 
Louis.  The  tenth  district  consists  of  St.  Louis  county  and  a  part  of  north  St. 
Louis  and  about  twice  as  much  of  south  St.  Louis.  The  eleventh  and  twelfth 
districts  lie  wholly  within  the  city.  Missouri  neither  gained  nor  lost  any  Rep- 
resentative by  the  census  of  1910  and  the  Apportionment  Act  of  1911.  The 
districts  were  not  changed  by  the  Legislature  in  1911,  although  the  population 
of  many  rural  counties  had  decreased  and  of  the  two  large  cities  had  increased 
in  the  preceding  ten  years.     The  State  has  not  been  redistricted  since  1901. 


54         CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

38.  Time  of  Choosing  Representatives. — It  was  intended 
by  the  framers  of  the  Constitution  that  the  time  for  holding 
elections  for  Representatives  should  be  left  to  the  legislatures 
of  the  several  States;  and  that  was  done  for  more  than  eighty 
years.  But  the  legislatures  fixed  on  different  dates,  elections 
in  some  States  being  held  as  early  as  May,  in  others  in  July, 
in  others  in  August  or  September.  That  produced  confusion 
in  the  public  mind,  and  sometimes  discord,  and  the  confusion 
increased  as  the  number  of  States  increased.  But  Congress 
was  given  the  power  to  regulate  "the  times"  as  well  as  the 
manner  of  holding  such  elections,  and  to  remove  such  con- 
fusion it  enacted  a  law  in  1872  requiring  them  to  be  held 
on  the  first  Tuesday  after  the  first  Monday  in  November  of 
even-numbered  years  in  all  the  States,  and  later  modified  that 
law  so  that  it  does  not  apply  to  a  State  whose  constitution 
until  changed  requires  its  elections  to  be  held  on  a  different 
date.  The  first  Tuesday  after  the  first  Monday  in  November 
of  even-numbered  years  is  now  the  date  for  holding  general 
elections  in  nearly  all  the  States;  and  so  Representatives  in 
Congress  throughout  America  are  elected  on  that  date,  with 
the  exception  of  Maine,  whose  constitution  fixes  the  day 
as  the  second  Monday  in  September,  and  has  so  fixed  it  since 
1864. 

39.  Getrjnnandering. — ^A  State  is  laid  out  into  Con- 
gressional districts,  not  by  Congress,  but  by  the  State's  Legis- 
lature. In  almost  every  State  these  districts  are  usually 
so  shaped  as  to  give  political  advantage  to  the  party  in  power 
in  the  Legislature  at  the  time  they  are  formed.  To  be  sure, 
the  Congress  requires  that  all  districts  "shall  be  composed  of 
contiguous  and  compact  territory,  containing  as  nearly  as 
practicable  an  equal  number  of  inhabitants."  But  every 
county  is  contiguous  .to  some  other,  and  "practicable"  to  too 
many  legislators  means  what  is  most  advantageous  to  their 
party.  So  there  has  grown  up  in  all  the  States,  it  matters 
not  what  party  is  in  control,  a  practice  by  which  the  districts 
are  so  laid  out  that  the  largest  possible  number  of  them  are 


THE  LEGISLATIVE  DEPARTMENT. 


55 


carried  by  the  party  in  power.  This  practice  is  called  "gerry- 
mandering," and  derives  its  name  from  Elbridge  Gerry,  who 
was  Governor  of  Massachusetts  in  1812.  The  General  Court 
that  year  so  laid  off  that  State  that  the  outlines  of  one  district 
had  a  dragon-like  shape.  This  outline  was  indicated  on  a 
map  of  the  State  which  hung  on  the  wall  of  the  office  of  Ben- 


*THE  MASSACHUSETTS  GERRYMANDER. 

jamin  Russell,  the  editor  of  a  paper  called  the  "Centinel." 
John  Fiske  says  that  one  day  the  celebrated  painter,  Gilbert 
Stuart,  came  into  Mr;  Russell's  office,  and  observing  the 
uncouth  figure,  added  with  his  pencil  a  head,  wings  and 
claws,  and  exclaimed,  "That  will  do  for  a  salamander." 
"Better  say  Gerrymander"  growled  the  editor,  and  thus 
originated  the  uncouth  word  which  describes  the  practice  of 


♦Note. — This  cut  and  much  of  the  explanation  are  taken  from  John  Fiske's 
Civil  Government  of  the  United  States. 


56  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

so  dividing  the  State  into  districts  as  to  give  the  party  which 
has  control  of  the  Legislature  the  most  of  the  Representatives 
elected  from  the  State^  This  is  done  by  forming  one  or  more 
districts  of  counties  which  give  large  majorities  to  the  opposite 
party,  and  then  so  laying  off  all  the  other  districts  that  each 
will  give  a  smaller  majority  to  the  party  in  power  in  the 
Legislature  which  districted  the  State.  The  real  remedy  for 
whatever  injustice  arises  from  gerrymandering  is  to  be  found 
in  an  appeal  to  the  legislators*  sense  of  fairness,  and  the 
defeat  at  the  polls  of  such  of  them  as  resort  to  it  to  the  extent 
of  defeating  the  popular  will. 

40.  Voters  for  Representatives. — The  Constitution  says 
that  "the  electors"  for  Representatives  "in  each  State  shall 
have  the  qualifications  requisite  for  electors  of  the  most 
numerous  branch  of  the  State  Legislature."  That  simply 
means  that  every  person  qualified  to  vote  for  a  Representative 
in  the  State  Legislature  is  qualified  to  vote  for  a  Represent- 
ative in  Congress.  But  a  person  qualified  to  vote  in  one 
State  might  not  be  if  he  lived  in  another.  Some  States  re- 
quire a  citizen  to  be  able  to  read  and  write  before  he  can  vote; 
others,  that  he  shall  have  paid  a  small  property  or  poll  tax. 
Some  States  permit  both  men  and  women  to  vote.  Others 
do  not  permit  women  to  vote,  but  do  permit  any  male  citizen 
twenty-one  years  old,  however  ignorant  or  whether  he  has 
paid  any  poll  or  other  tax  or  not,  to  vote,  unless  he  is  a  lunatic 
or  a  soldier  on  duty  or  has  been  convicted  of  a  crime  and  not 
pardoned.  Thus  in  Massachusetts,  Maine,  Connecticut 
and  some  Southern  States  a  voter  must  know  how  to  read 
and  write.  In  Rhode  Island  the  citizen  who  owns  land  is 
not  required  to  register,  while  all  other  male  citizens  who 
wish  to  vote  must  register  ten  months  before  election  day, 
and  thus  the  voting  is  confined  to  permanent  residents. 
But  every  State,  by  establishing  an  educational  or  property 
qualification  for  the  right  to  vote,  lays  itself  liable  to  have 
its  number  of   Representatives  in   Congress  proportionally 


THE  LEGISLATIVE  DEPARTMENT.  57 

decreased,  for  the  Constitution  says  that  when  the  right  to 
vote  is  denied  to  any  male  citizen  twenty-one  years  old, 
except  for  participation  in  crime,  the  number  of  Repre- 
sentatives the  State  shall  have  in  Congress  and  the  votes  it 
shall  have  for  President  "shall  be  decreased  in  the  proportion 
which  the  number  of  such  male  citizens  thus  excluded  from 
voting  bears  to  the  whole  number  of  male  citizens  twenty-one 
years  of  age  in  such  State."  This  provision  is  a  part  of  the 
Fourteenth  Amendment,  and  was  enacted  in  the  days  soon 
after  the  Civil  War  when  partisan  passions  were  aflame,  to 
provide  a  way  for  punishing  a  State  which  should  ever  de- 
prive a  negro  of  the  right  to  vote.  But  the  fact  that  its 
enforcement  would  cut  down  the  number  of  Representatives 
of  every  State  which  might  require  a  voter  to  have  a  certain 
amount  of  education  or  property,  has  made  Congress  slow 
to  enforce  it. 

41.  The  Senate. — Each  State  is  entitled  to  two  Senators, 
and  no  more,  and  each  is  elected  for  a  term  of  six  years,  be- 
ginning on  the  4th  of  March  after  his  election,  and  each  hcis 
one  vote  on  any  proposition  that  comes  before  the  Senate. 
The  Constitution  as  framed  declared  that  Senators  should  be 
chosen  by  the  legislatures  of  their  respective  States,  and  for 
more  than  a  hundred  and  twenty  years  they  were  elected  in 
no  other  way.  But  in  1912  the  Congress  proposed  to  the 
legislatures  of  the  several  States  an  amendment  declaring 
that  they  should  be  elected  by  the  people,  and  that  all  persons 
who  were  qualified  to  vote  for  Representatives  in  the  Legis- 
lature should  be  qualified  to  vote  for  a  Senator  in  Congress. 
That  amendment  was  ratified  by  the  legislatures  of  three- 
fourths  of  the  States  by  May  31,  1913,  and  hereafter  Senators 
will  be  elected  by  the  people  at  the  general  election  in  No- 
vember. If  a  vacancy  occurs  in  the  office  of  Senator,  the 
Governor  appoints  a  successor,  who  serves  until  the  people, 
at  the  next  general  election  or  at  a  special  election  called  by 


58         CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

the  Governor  for  the  purpose,  elect  someone  to  fill  out  the 
balance  of  the  term. 

The  Senate  appoints  its  own  standing  committees,  as- 
signments being  usually  made  upon  the  recommendations  of 
a  special  committee  created  for  the  purpose,  or  upon  the  motion 
of  the  chairman  of  the  caucus  of  Senators  of  the  party  having 
a  majority  of  members. 

As  there  are  48  States,  there  are  96  Senators,  and  that 
number  cannot  be  decreased,  nor  can  it  be  increased  until 
the  number  of  States  is  increased.  On  the  other  hand. 
Congress  can  increase  or  decrease  the  number  of  Represent- 
atives every  ten  years. 

41a.  Qualifications  and  Classifications. — ^A  Senator  must 
be  an  inhabitant  of  the  State  from  which  chosen,  thirty  years 
of  age,  and  for  nine  years  must  have  been  a  citizen  of  the 
United  States.  Their  terms  are  so  arranged  that  one-third 
of  them  expire  every  two  years,  that  is,  with  the  end  of  each 
Congress.  At  the  first  Congress,  all  the  Senators  were  di- 
vided into  three  equal  classes,  and  by  the  Constitution  the 
terms  of  the  first  class  expired  in  two  years,  those  of  the  second 
class  in  four  years,  and  those  of  the  third  class  in  six  years. 
Those  who  were  elected  to  take  the  place  of  the  first  class 
served  for  a  term  of  six  years  from  the  expiration  of  the 
two-year  term  of  that  class,  and  those  chosen  as  successors 
of  the  second  class  served  six  years  from  the  end  of  the  four- 
year  term  of  that  class,  and  so  also  when  those  of  the  third  class 
had  served  their  six-year  terms  their  successors  were  chosen 
for  six  years  more.  This  arrangement  has  thus  progressed 
through  all  the  years  since  the  first  Congress  met.  When 
a  new  State  was  admitted  to  the  Union  the  first  Senators 
chosen  therefrom  were  assigned  to  the  classes  which  then 
had  the  least  number  of  Senators  belonging  to  them.  Thus 
the  three  classes  have  been  kept  as  nearly  equal  as  possible,  and 
thus  two-thirds  of  the  Senators,  at  the  beginning  of  each  Con- 


THE  LEGISLATIVE  DEPARTMENT.  59 

gress,  are  experienced  members.    This  arrangement  makes  the 
Senate  practically  a  continuous  body. 

42.  The  Presiding  Officer. — The  officer  who  presides 
over  the  sessions  of  the  Senate  is  the  Vice-President  of  the 
United  States,  and  that  is  about  all  he  does.  He  appoints 
no  committees,  and  has  no  vote  except  when  the  Senators 
are  equally  divided,  and  then  his  vote  is  called  the  "casting 
vote."  The  Senate  also  chooses  from  its  own  members  a 
President  of  the  Senate  pro  tempore  to  preside  in  case  of  the 
death  or  absence  of  the  Vice-President,  or  in  case  the  Vice- 
President  should  succeed  to  the  office  of  President. 

45.  Sessions  of  Congress. — Congress  must  meet  at 
least  once  in  each  year,  and  may  convene  oftener  by  call  of 
the  President.  A  regular  session  begins  the  first  Monday  in 
December  of  each  year.  It  is  not  called  by  the  President; 
its  time  of  meeting  is  fixed  by  law,  and  hence  it  convenes 
without  any  notice  to  members  and  without  any  call  from 
any  one.  The  first  regular  session  may  last  one  year  if  the 
two  houses  so  choose ;  that  is,  from  the  beginning  of  one  regu- 
lar session  in  December  to  the  beginning  of  the  next  regular 
session  in  December.  The  second  regular  session  ends  by 
law  on  the  fourth  of  March  of  each  odd  year;  that  is,  on  the 
fourth  of  March  after  it  begins  in  December.  Congress  cannot 
meet  in  special  session  except  upon  the  summons  of  the  Presi- 
dent. 

Neither  house  can  adjourn  while  Congress  is  in  session 
for  more  than  three  days  without  the  consent  of  the  other, 
but  there  is  nothing  to  prohibit  both  houses  from  agreeing  on 
a  vacation  of  any  length  which  would  not  interfere  with  regu- 
lar sessions.  If  the  two  houses  cannot  agree  upon  a  time  of 
adjournment  the  President  may  adjourn  them  to  such  time 
as  he  may  think  proper — a  thing  he  has  never  yet  done.  Not 
only  can  the  President  convene  Congress  in  "extraordinary" 
session,  but  he  can  also  convene  either  house  without  con- 
vening the  other,  and  it  has  grown  to  be  the  rule  for  him  to 


60         CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

convene  the  Senate  for  a  short  session  just  after  his  inaugura- 
tion in  order  that  it  may  confirm  his  selection  of  Cabinet 
officers. 

All  the  sessions  of  Congress  held  between  the  fourth  of 
March  of  one  odd  year  and  the  fourth  of  March  of  the  next 
odd  year  are  called  a  "Congress" — for  instance,  the  63rd 
Congress  embraced  a  period  of  two  years,  as  did  every  other 
Congress.  There  were  held,  therefore,  between  March  4, 
1789,  and  March  4,  1917,  sixty-four  Congresses,  having  128 
regular  sessions,  besides  a  number  of  special  sessions. 

46.  Beginning  of  Sessions. — ^As  Representatives  are 
elected  in  November  of  even  years  and  the  first  regular  ses- 
sion of  the  Congress  to  which  they  are  elected  does  not  begin 
until  December  of  the  next  year,  a  new  Representative  will 
not,  unless  a  special  session  is  called,  which  is  never  done 
except  "on  extraordinary  occasions,"  take  his  seat  for  thirteen 
months  after  his  election.  For  this  reason  there  have  always 
been  thoughtful  persons  who  believe  that  the  Government 
would  be  brought  closer  to  the  people  and  that  the  people 
would  be  more  potent  in  influencing  its  affairs  if  the  first  reg- 
ular session  of  Congress  after  an  election  were  begun  on  the 
fourth  of  the  next  March,  and  the  second  regular  session  on 
the  fourth  of  the  succeeding  March.  In  addition  to  this 
reason,  it  is  urged  that,  under  the  present  arrangement,  the 
party  in  power  if  it  fails  at  the  polls  is,  smarting  under  the 
sting  of  defeat,  met  with  the  temptation  at  the  short  session 
that  intervenes  between  the  election  and  its  end  on  the  fourth 
of  March,  to  do  some  very  partisan  and  high-handed  things. 
If  Congress  at  any  time  should  desire  to  fix  the  fourth  of  March, 
or  some  other  day,  for  the  beginning  of  the  sesssions  of  Con- 
gress, it  has  power  to  do  so,  for  the  Constitution  says  they 
shall  begin  on  the  first  Mondays  in  December  unless  Congress 
"shall  appoint  a  different  day."  In  opposition  to  the  change, 
however,  it  is  replied  that  business  is  very  intimately  re- 
sponsive to  changes  in  administration,  and  for  that  reason 


r 


THE  LEGISLATIVE  DEPARTMENT.  61 


it  is  best  that  there  be  a  considerable  period  in  which  the 
people  may  gradually  adjust  their  affairs  to  the  foreseen 
changes  that  a  Congress  of  different  political  beliefs  would 
make. 

47.  Like  Powers  of  Both  Houses. — (1)  Each  house  has 
the  right  to  make  rules  for  its  own  government.  But  as  the 
Senate  is  a  continuous  body,  in  the  sense  that  two-thirds  of 
the  Senators  are  always  "old"  members,  its  rules  are  rarely 
changed,  and  it  is  very  difficult  to  change  them.  Each  House, 
however,  is  a  "new"  house,  in  the  sense  that  the  terms  of  all 
Representatives  begin  and  end  at  the  same  time,  and  hence 
it  adopts  its  own  rules  at  the  beginning  of  each  session,  and 
changes  them  at  will. 

(2)  Each  house  has  the  right  to  "judge  of  the  qualifica- 
tions of  its  own  members;"  that  is,  it  may  refuse  a  person 
who  claims  to  be  a  member  the  privilege  of  becoming  a  member, 
because  he  is  not  of  the  right  age,  or  has  not  resided  long  enough 
in  the  State  from  which  chosen,  or  is  not  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States,  or  was  not  elected  in  the  way  provided  by  law  or  was 
fraudulently  chosen. 

(3)  Each  house  keeps  its  own  journal,  and  the  yea  and 
nay  votes  must,  on  the  request  of  one-fifth  of  the  members 
present,  be  taken  on  any  pending  measure,  and  entered 
thereon.  That  means  that,  when  such  a  request  is  made, 
the  roll  of  members  is  called,  and  if  a  member  is  in  favor  of 
the  pending  measure  he  answers  "aye,"  and  if  he  opposes  it 
he  answers  "no,"  and  his  answer  is  entered  on  the  journal, 
which  is  a  permanent  record,  and  thus  the  people  can  always 
ascertain  how  any  member  voted  on  a  bill  or  other  pending 
proposition. 

(4)  The  members  of  each  house  receive  an  annual  salary 
of  $7,500,  and  this  amount  may  be  increased  or  decreased 
by  law  of  Congress.  In  addition,  the  Government  pays 
their  traveling  expenses  in  going  to  Washington  to  attend 
a  session  of  Congress,  and  in  returning  therefrom,  and  in 


62         CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

attending  to  any  other  duty  which  their  respective  house 
directs  them  to  perform  in  its  behalf. 

(5)  The  members  of  both  houses  are  privileged  from  arrest 
during  their  attendance  upon  the  sessions  of  their  respective 
houses,  and  in  going  to  or  returning  from  the  same,  for  any 
offensive  conduct  except  treason,  felony  and  a  breach  of  the 
peace;  and  for  any  speech  made  in  either  house  while  it  is 
in  formal  session  they  cannot  be  prosecuted  or  sued  in  any 
court  or  called  to  account  in  any  other  place. 

There  are  two  reasons  for  this.  The  first  is  that  important 
legislation  might  be  interfered  with  and  delayed  and  even 
necessary  action  of  the  Government  defeated,  if  Senators 
and  Representatives  could  be  arrested  for  minor  crimes  and 
thereby  prevented  from  attending  the  sessions  of  Congress. 
It  would  be  easy  to  cause  their  arrest  were  it  not  for  this 
clause  in  the  Constitution.  Any  private  citizen  may  file  a 
complaint  with  a  justice  of  the  peace,  charging  another  private 
citizen  with  having  committed  a  minor  crime,  and  a  complaint 
is  the  first  step  towards  an  arrest,  and  is  usually,  though  not 
always,  followed  by  a  warrant  of  arrest.  Partisan  feelings 
sometimes  become  bitter,  and  in  such  times  mean  men, 
sheltered  by  a  public  hatred  running  strongly  in  their  favor, 
would  come  forward  to  file  complaints  and  cause  the  arrest, 
for  trivial  offenses,  of  Senators  and  Representatives  of  op- 
posite views,  and  thereby  defeat  or  delay  pending  legislation 
to  which  they  object.  This  clause  was  placed  in  the  Con- 
stitution to  thwart  the  effort  of  such  men  to  cripple  the 
Government  or  impair  the  power  of  Congress  to  act  for  the 
whole  people  without  fear  or  ruthless  embarrassment.  The 
second  reason — the  reason  for  the  provision  which  does  not 
permit  a  Senator  or  Representative  to  be  punished  for  any 
speech  he  may  make  in  Congress — is  that  free  speech  and 
liberality  of  discussion  are  necessary  to  intelligent  action  in  any 
legislative  body,  and  for  an  abuse  of  that  freedom  by  a  member 
the  house  to  which  he  belongs  may  compel  him  to  apologize, 


THE  LEGISLATIVE  DEPARTMENT.  63 

or  even  expel  him,  and  having  been  punished  once  he  should 
not  again  be  punished  for  the  same  offense.  If  a  private 
citizen  pubHshes  a  hurtful  untruthful  statement  concerning 
another  he  may  be  sued  for  damages  in  a  court,  or  in  extreme 
cases  punished  as  for  a  crime;  but  if  a  member  of  Congress 
utters  a  slander  about  another,  or  even  about  a  private 
citizen,  during  a  session  of  the  house  to  which  he  belongs,  he 
cannot  be  sued  for  damages  or  prosecuted  in  any  court, 
however  wicked  and  untruthful  his  words  may  be. 

But  for  treason  or  a  felony  Senators  or  Representatives 
may  be  arrested,  even  within  the  halls  of  Congress,  and 
prosecuted  and  punished  just  as  if  they  were  private  citizens; 
and  members  have  been  arrested  for  disturbing  the  peace  in 
and  near  the  Capitol. 

48.  How  a  Law  is  Passed. — ^A  majority  of  the  mem- 
bers of  a  house  constitute  a  quorum  to  do  business,  and  if 
a  bill  receives,  in  each  house,  the  votes  of  a  majority  of  the 
members  present,  if  such  members  be  a  quorum,  and  is  signed 
by  the  President,  it  becomes  a  law.  If  the  President  veto  it, 
that  is,  refuse  to  sign  it,  he  shall  return  it  to  the  house  in  which 
it  originated,  with  his  objections;  it  must  then  receive  the 
votes  of  two-thirds  of  the  members  of  each  house  before  it 
can  become  a  law.  If  any  bill  shall  not  be  returned  by  the 
President  within  ten  days  (Sundays  excepted)  after  it  shall 
have  been  presented  to  him,  the  same  shall  be  a  law,  in  like 
manner  as  if  he  had  signed  it,  unless  Congress  by  its  adjourn- 
ment prevent  its  return,  in  which  case  it  shall  not  be  a  law. 

49.  Impeachments. — It  may,  sometimes,  be  necessary 
to  try  a  President,  or  a  judge  or  other  civil  officer  of  the  Gov- 
ernment, for  treason,  bribery,  or  other  high  crime  or  mis- 
demeanor. Such  trials  are  called  impeachments.  They 
begin  in  the  House,  which  makes  up  a  formal  charge  against 
the  accused  officer  and  presents  it  to  the  Senate,  and  the 
Senate  tries  him.  If  the  President  is  on  trial,  the  Chief 
Justice  presides,  but  in  all  other  cases  the  Vice-President 


64         CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

V 

may  preside.  In  any  case  two-thirds  of  the  Senators  present 
must  vote  against  the  accused  before  he  can  be  found  guilty, 
and  if  convicted  the  penalty  can  go  no  further  than  removal 
from  office  and  disqualification  from  holding  a  Federal  office, 
but  the  accused  officer  may  be  held  for  trial  in  a  court,  just 
as  any  other  person,  if  he  has  committed  a  crime. 

Congress  has  not  often  invoked  its  powers  under  this 
clause  of  the  Constitution.  Three  or  four  times  early  within 
the  last  century,  and  at  least  twice  within  the  present  century, 
Federal  judges  were  charged  with  cruelty  and  corruption  in 
office  and  with  usurping  powers  which  did  not  belong  to  the 
courts,  and  were  impeached  by  the  House  and  brought  to 
trial  in  the  Senate,  but  in  nearly  every  case  they  were  ac- 
quitted. And  once,  soon  after  the  Civil  War,  an  attempt 
was  made  to  impeach  a  President.  Andrew  Johnson,  then 
President,  was  charged  with  removing  men  from  office  in 
violation  of  a  law  of  Congress,  and  was  brought  to  trial. 
His  defense  was  that  the  law  forbade  the  President  to  remove 
from  office  a  member  of  his  Cabinet  or  other  high  executive 
officer  and  was  therefore  unconstitutional,  since  it  was  an 
attempt  to  limit  or  impair  the  power  vested  in  him  by  the 
Constitution,  which  vests  in  the  President  alone  the  whole 
executive  power.  This  proceeding  profoundly  stirred  the 
country,  and  resulted  in  his  acquittal  by  one  vote,  and  now 
all  men  rejoice  that  he  was  acquitted.  Thus,  fortunately 
for  our  own  peace  and  to  the  credit  of  our  public  officers,  it 
has  rarely  been  necessary  to  invoke  this  provision  of  the  Con- 
stitution, but  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  existence  of  the 
power  in  Congress  to  impeach  and  remove  from  office  a  presi- 
dent, a  judge,  or  other  high  Federal  officer,  has  been  of  great 
value  to  the  people  in  deterring  such  officials  from  wrong- 
doing. 

50.  Treaties. — ^The  President,  by  and  with  the  advice 
and  consent  of  the  Senate,  may  make  treaties  with  a  foreign 
nation.    Treaties    are    agreements    or    contracts    between 


THE  LEGISLATIVE  DEPARTMENT.  65 

nations.  They  usually  relate  to  a  settlement  of  international 
disputes,  or  to  the  fixing  of  the  national  boundary,  or  to  the 
acquirement  of  new  territory,  or  to  the  terms  upon  which 
trade  may  be  carried  on  between  citizens  of  the  two  countries. 
But  before  such  treaties  can  be  binding  they  must  be  ap- 
proved by  two-thirds  of  the  Senators  present  in  the  Senate 
when  they  are  acted  on.  When  treaties  are  made  in  this 
manner  they  become  a  part  of  the  supreme  law  of  the  land 
(Art.  6,  sec.  2)  and  are  binding  on  everyone.  Neither  Con- 
gress nor  the  courts  can  repeal  or  ignore  them.  They  are  in 
the  nature  of  solemn  contracts  between  two  nations,  and 
often  are  to  exist  during  a  term  of  years,  and  during  that 
time  neither  nation  can  violate  their  terms  without  violating 
its  honor.  And  for  a  persistent  violation  of  their  treaty 
agreements,  the  usual  means  of  redress  resorted  to  by  nations 
in  the  past  has  been  war  with  the  one  refusing  to  keep  its 
contract.  But  in  late  years  there  has  grown  up  at  The  Hague 
an  International  Arbitration  Congress,  whose  avowed  pur- 
pose is  to  provide  uniform  rules  by  which  all  nations  are  to 
be  governed  in  their  dealings  with  each  other,  and  to  settle 
by  arbitration  disputes  between  them. 

It  will  be  observed  that  a  treaty  is  a  supreme  law,  and 
it  is  the  only  kind  of  law  that  the  President  and  either  house 
can  enact  without  the  consent  of  the  other. 

61.  Why  Congress  Has  Two  Houses. — At  this  time 
eleven  States,  or  less  than  one-fourth  of  the  whole  number, 
have  228  Representatives  in  Congress,  and  the  other  thirty- 
seven  207.  In  the  first  Congress,  which  met  on  March  4, 
1789,  four  States  had  32  members  and  the  other  nine  33. 
Delaware  and  Rhode  Island  had  only  one  each.  It  was  early 
proposed  in  the  Constitutional  Convention  that  the  Congress 
should  be  composed  of  one  house,  and  that  each  State  should 
have  representatives  therein  in  proportion  to  the  number  of 
its  inhabitants.  At  this  the  small  States  drew  back.  They 
feared  their  interests  would  be  swallowed  up  by  such  States 


66         CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

as  Virginia,  which  had  ten  times  as  many  inhabitants  as 
Rhode  Island,  and  Pennsylvania,  which  had  eight  times  as 
many  as  Delaware.  The  Union  under  the  Articles  of  Con- 
federation was  a  union  of  States,  and  in  the  Continental  Con- 
gress there  was  only  one  house,  in  which  each  State  had  one 
vote  and  no  more.  The  small  States  argued  that  if  this  plan 
was  to  be  abandoned  and  each  State  was  to  have  representa- 
tion in  proportion  to  its  population  alone,  it  would  result  in 
an  extinguishment  of  the  States,  and  if  not,  then  the  voice 
of  a  small  State  would  be  so  feeble  as  never  to  be  heard.  In 
reply  to  this,  the  larger  States  urged  that  each  State  ought 
to  be  represented  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  its  inhabit- 
ants; that  there  was  no  higher  or  fairer  rule  for  representa- 
tion than  this.  They  said  the  Articles  of  Confederation  were 
unjust  in  granting  to  the  small  number  of  inhabitants  of  small 
Delaware  the  same  voice  and  vote  given  to  eight  times  as 
many  people  in  Pennsylvania.  This  difference  over  repre- 
sentation in  Congress  seemed  so  irreconcilable  that  the  Con- 
stitutional Convention  was  on  the  point  of  breaking  up.  It 
was  at  this  crisis  that  the  Connecticut  delegates  came  forward 
with  a  plan  that  resulted  in  a  Congress  of  two  houses.  In 
that  State,  as  indeed  in  others,  the  lower  house  of  the  Legis- 
lature was  composed  of  one  member  from  each  town,  while 
the  upper  house  consisted  of  a  variable  number,  dependent 
on  the  number  of  inhabitants,  elected  from  the  State  at 
large.  This  arrangement  suggested  to  them  a  solution  for 
the  difficulty.  Having  it  in  mind,  they  proposed  that  the 
Congress  should  consist  of  two  houses,  and  that  the  upper 
house  should  represent  the  States,  in  which  each  State  should 
have  an  equal  voice,  and  that  the  lower  house  should  repre- 
sent the  people,  and  that  the  number  of  Representatives 
each  State  should  have  in  that  house  should  depend  on  the 
number  of  persons  residing  therein.  This  plan  was  accepted, 
and  has  ever  since  been  known  as  the  Connecticut  Compro- 
mise. After  it  was  agreed  upon,  all  other  differences  were 
adjusted  without  difficulty. 


THE  LEGISLATIVE  DEPARTMENT.  67 


Questions  on  Chapter  V. 

L  What  is  the  law-making  body?     (33) 

2.  How  is  the  House  composed?     (34) 

3.  What  measures  must  originate  in  it?     (34) 

4.  How  many  Representatives?     (34) 

5.  How  do  they  vote?     (34) 

6.  What  are  the  quahfications  of  Representatives?     (35) 

7.  How  are  vacancies  filled?     (35) 

8.  What  is  said  of  the  Speaker?     (36) 

9.  Does  he  appoint  the  committees?     (36) 

10.  How  is  the  number  of  Representatives  ascertained  and  deter- 
mined?    (37) 

IL  Discuss  Representative  districts.     (37a) 

12.  What  body  determines  the  time  for  electing  Representatives? 

(38) 

13.  What  is  said  of  gerrymandering?     (39) 

14.  Who  may  vote  for  Representatives?     (40) 

15.  Are  the  qualifications  of  a  voter  the  same  in  each  State?     (40) 

Name  some  variations.     (40)  . 

16.  How  may  Congress  punish  a  State  which  prescribes  a  property 

or  educational  qualification  for  voting?     (40) 

17.  Why  has  Congress  been  slow  to  enforce  this  provision?     (40) 

18.  How  many  Senators  and  how  elected?     (41) 

19.  How  were  they  formerly  elected?    .(41) 

20.  How  are  vacancies  filled?     (41) 

21.  What  are  the  qualifications  of  a  Senator?     (41a) 

22.  How  are  their  terms  arranged  and  how  was  this  classification 

brought  about?     (41a) 

23.  In  what  sense  is  the  Senate  a  continuous  body?     (41a  and  47-1) 

24.  Who  presides  over  the  sessions  of  the  Senate?     (42) 

25.  Describe  the  meeting  and  sessions  of  Congress.     (45) 
,  26.  Discuss  beginning  of  sessions.     (46) 

27.  What  are  some  of  the  like  powers  of  both  houses?     (47) 

28.  What  is  a  quorum?     (48) 

29.  When  does  a  bill  become  a  law?     (48) 

30.  Describe  the  President's  veto.     (48) 

31.  Discuss  impeachments.     (49) 

32.  By  whom  are  treaties  made?     (50) 

33.  What  are  they  and  how  enforced?     (50) 

34.  How  did  it  come  about  that  Congress  has  two  houses?     (51) 


68         CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

POWERS  OF  CONGRESS— TAXATION. 

52.  General  Powers. — The  Constitution  in  section  8  of 
article  I  enumerates  some  of  the  powers  given  by  it  to  the 
Congress.  It  is  there  specifically  said  that  the  Congress 
shall  have  power  to  do  certain  things.  Other  parts  of  the 
Constitution  say  that  Congress  shall  have  power  to  do  certain 
other  things.  The  exercise  of  these  powers  has  given  shape 
and  strength  to  the  Government  of  the  United  States.  It  is, 
therefore,  of  great  importance  to  understand  what  these  powers 
are. 

And  an  understanding  of  them  becomes  of  greater  im- 
portance if  it  is  remembered  that  the  Government  has  no 
power  except  what  is  given  it  by  the  Constitution.  That  is 
what  is  meant  by  saying  the  Government  is  one  of  "enumer- 
ated" powers.  Its  powers  are  enumerated,  or  expressed,  in 
the  Constitution.  It  cannot  do  just  anything  the  Congress, 
or  the  Congress  and  the  President  and  all  its  officers  com- 
bined, may  want  it  to  do;  it  can  do  only  those  things  the  Con- 
stitution authorizes  it  to  do.  And  any  law  the  Congress 
might  enact  which  the  Constitution  does  not  give  it  power 
to  enact,  is  invalid,  and  when  declared  invalid  by  the  Su- 
preme Court  is  binding  on  no  one.  To  illustrate:  Suppose 
Congress  wished  to  enact  a  law  giving  to  women  in  every 
State  the  privilege  of  voting  at  all  elections.  The  Consti- 
tution gives  it  no  power  to  enact  such  a  law,  it  is  absolutely 
silent  on  the  subject,  and  therefore  the  power  does  not  exist, 
and  if  such  a  law  were  enacted  by  Congress  it  would  be  void, 
so  long  as  the  Constitution  remains  unchanged,  and  the  only 
way  a  valid  law  on  the  subject  could  be  had  would  be  to  give 
Congress  power  to  enact  it,  by  an  amendment  to  the  Con- 
stitution. 


r 


POWERS  OF  CONGRESS— TAXATION. 


It  should  also  be  observed  that  it  does  not  follow  that 
because  a  power  is  vested  in  Congress  it  is  compelled  to 
exercise  it,  except  where  it  is  specifically  required  by  the  Con- 
stitution to  do  so.  In  the  nature  of  things  it  must  be  allowed 
a  discretion  as  to  how  far  it  will  exercise  some  powers  vested 
in  it,  or  whether  it  will  exercise  them  at  all.  For  instance, 
Congress  is  given  power  to  declare  war,  but  it  is  not  compelled 
to  declare  war,  and  should  never  do  so  except  when  war  is 
the  only  means  of  preserving  the  country's  honor.  Again, 
it  is  given  power  to  levy  taxes  on  imports,  and  on  lands,  and 
on  persons,  and  on  other  things;  it  can  therefore  cause  any 
of  these  things  to  be  taxed,  and  it  can  make  the  taxes  high  on 
some  and  low  on  others,  and  it  can  refuse  to  tax  imports  at 
all,  and  levy  all  its  taxes  on  lands,  or  all  on  persons,  or  raise 
its  revenue  by  taxing  other  things  it  is  given  power  to  tax. 
But  it  has  rarely  laid  a  tax  on  lands,  and  never  one  on  persons, 
but  almost  from  the  beginning  has  laid  a  tax  on  some  imports, 
and  sometimes  the  tax  has  been  very  high,  and  moderate  at 
other  times.  So  Congress  is  not  compelled  to  exercise  every 
power  given  to  it,  but  whether  or  not  it  will  exercise  it  at  all, 
or  if  exercised  to  what  extent  it  will  do  so,  depends  on  the 
needs  of  the  Government  and  the  wishes  of  the  people. 

Some  powers  of  the  Congress  are  exclusive;  that  is,  they 
can  be  exercised  only  by  the  national  Government.  There 
are  other  things  which  may  be  done  by  either  the  national 
Government  or  the  State.  For  instance,  only  the  national 
Government  can  coin  money,  but  either  can  construct  post 
roads,  or  highways  along  which  the  mails  are  carried. 

53.  Taxation. — It  is  said  in  said  section  8  that  "the 
Congress  shall  have  power  to  lay  and  collect  taxes,  duties, 
imposts  and  excises"  for  the  purposes  of  paying  the  debts  and 
providing  "for  the  common  defense  and  general  welfare  of 
the  United  States." 

This  is  the  clause  of  the  Constitution  which  confers  on 
the  national  Government  the  power  of  taxation,  and  it  was 


70         CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

this  clause  which  enabled  it  to  get  on  its  feet  and  to  make  its 
authority  permanent.  The  Articles  of  Confederation  gave 
to  the  Continental  Congress  no  real  power  of  taxation. 
When  it  needed  money  it  called  on  the  States  for  it,  and  if 
they  refused  to  furnish  it,  it  had  no  way  to  punish  them  or 
to  get  it  by  seizing  the  property  of  the  citizen.  But  under 
this  clause  of  the  Constitution  the  national  Government  is 
authorized  to  raise  its  own  revenue.  Congress  levies  taxes 
upon  most  things  shipped  into  this  country,  upon  some 
articles  manufactured  here,  upon  the  privilege  of  doing  certain 
kinds  of  business,  upon  the  net  incomes  of  corporations  and 
wealthy  persons,  and  it  can  levy  taxes  on  lands  and  on  per- 
sons. 

54.  Revenue. — Money  raised  by  taxation  is  called 
revenue.  It  is  the  Government's  expense  money.  It  is 
used  to  pay  the  salaries  of  its  officers,  support  its  army  and 
navy,  erect  needed  buildings,  reward  old  soldiers  with  pen- 
sions, operate  its  postal  system,  maintain  its  courts,  and  pay 
any  other  expenses  or  debts  incurred  by  it. 

55.  Indirect  Taxes, — Taxes  which  may  be  levied  by 
Congress  are  of  two  classes,  direct  and  indirect.  Indirect 
taxes  are  taxes  on  articles  of  consumption  and  on  the  privilege 
of  doing  business.  By  indirect  taxes  are  usually  meant 
what  in  this  clause  are  called  "duties,  imposts  and  excises." 

Imposts  are  taxes  imposed  on  imports.  They  are  charges 
against  goods  shipped  into  this  country,  and  are  as  often 
known  as  customs  or  customs  duties,  and  as  tariffs  or  tariff 
charges.  Congress  can  refuse  to  permit  any  one  to  bring 
into  and  sell  in  this  country  fabrics,  hides,  lumber,  sugars, 
coffees,  grains  or  any  other  thing  produced  abroad,  unless  a 
tax  is  paid  to  the  Government's  officers,  and  that  tax  is  an 
impost  or  tariff.  A  specific  tariff  is  a  tax  on  an  article  by  the 
yard  or  pound  or  other  quantity,  in  disregard  of  its  value; 
an  ad  valorem  tariff  is  a  tax  according  to  the  value  of  the 
article;  and  the  same  article  may  be  made  to  bear  both  a 


POWERS  OF  CONGRESS— TAXATION.  71 

specific  and  an  ad  valorem  tariff.  For  instance,  the  tariff  on 
a  piece  of  silk  cloth  may  be  twenty  cents  per  pound  and  forty 
per  cent  of  its  value.  Tariff  taxation  has  for  many  years 
been  one  of  the  Government's  chief  sources  of  obtaining 
revenue,  and  the  money  derived  therefrom  often  amounts  to 
three  or  four  hundred  million  dollars  annually. 

56.  A  Protective  Tariff. — A  protective  tariff  is  a  tax 
on  the  products  of  other  countries  of  such  a  discriminating 
kind  as  will  prevent  or  restrict  their  competition  with  prod- 
ucts of  this  country.  Protective  tariffs  protect  the  American 
producer  in  charging  more  for  his  products  than  he  could  ob- 
tain for  them  were  not  this  import  tax  fixed  at  such  a  rate  as 
to  lessen  the  quantity  or  increase  the  price  here  of  like  goods 
made  abroad.  "Protection"  is  meant  to  preserve  the  Ameri- 
can market  for  the  American  producer,  and  thereby  to  build 
up  home  industries  and  manufactories  and  to  enable  them  to 
pay  better  wages  to  their  laborers.  Protective  tariffs  are  ar- 
ranged with  the  double  purpose  of  protecting  the  American 
producer  from  competition  with  like  articles  made  in  foreign 
nations,  and  of  raising  revenue  for  the  support  of  the  Govern- 
ment. 

57.  A  Revenue  Tariff. — A  revenue  tariff  is  a  tax  on 
imports  levied  solely  for  the  purpose  of  raising  revenue.  The 
doctrine  which  favors  such  a  tariff  is  that  the  Government's 
only  right  to  levy  taxes  is  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  money 
wherewith  to  pay  its  expenses.  A  "tariff  for  revenue  only" 
does  not  discriminate  in  favor  of  the  American  producer,  and 
is  not  designed  to  afford  him  any  protection  from  competi- 
tion by  foreign-made  goods  with  those  produced  by  himself 
except  such  as  must  naturally  result  incidentally  from  any 
tariff;  for  the  imposition  of  any  tariff  must  to  some  extent 
lessen  the  amount  of  goods  shipped  into  this  country,  or  in- 
crease their  price  to  the  purchaser,  and  thereby  enable  the 
American  producer  to  charge  something  more  for  his  product 
than  he  could  otherwise  obtain. 


72         CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

58.  How  Imposts  are  Collected. — Congress  has  laid 
off  the  United  States  into  customs  districts,  and  every  im- 
portant seaboard  town  in  each  district  it  has  declared  to  be  a 
"port  of  entry,"  and  every  ship  wishing  to  land  goods  at  any 
point  within  that  district  must  haul  in  there  and  pay  its  port 
fees.  Arrangements  must  there  be  made  for  the  payment 
of  the  imposts  fixed  by  Congress  on  the  goods  it  carries, 
whether  they  are  to  be  unloaded  there,  or  at  another  place 
in  the  district  called  a  "port  of  delivery."  At  each  port  of 
entry  is  a  custom  house,  and  appraisers  who  determine  the 
value  of  each  article  of  merchandise  the  ship  tarries,  and  col- 
lectors who  collect  the  taxes  which  the  law  imposes.  But  if 
it  suits  the  owner  to  pay  the  tax  at  a  port  of  delivery,  the 
goods  are  sent  on  and  the  duties  are  paid  there.  Besides,  at 
each  port  of  entry  and  delivery  are  customs  stores,  or  ware- 
houses, in  which  the  owner,  by  giving  bond,  may  keep  his 
goods  for  a  fixed  time  without  paying  the  tariffs,  but  if  they 
are  not  paid  within  that  time  they  may  be  put  up  and  sold 
by  the  collector,  or  he  may  bring  suit  on  the  importer's  bond 
for  the  amount  of  the  duties.  These  stores  are  called  "bonded 
warehouses"  because  the  owner  of  the  imports  by  giving  bond 
may  leave  them  therein  for  a  certain  time  without  the  pay- 
ment of  the  duty. 

In  order  that  vessels  do  not  land  at  some  other  point 
than  a  port  of  entry  and  thus  escape  the  payment  of  port 
fees,  and  the  owners  of  goods  avoid  the  payment  of  the  tariffs, 
the  Government  has  provided  "revenue  cutters,"  or  small, 
swift,  armed  boats,  which  patrol  the  shore,  to  compel  them 
to  land  at  ,a  port  of  entry  or  go  back.  Thus  what  is  called 
"smuggling"  is  prevented. 

59.  Excises. — Excises,  or  internal  revenue,  are  inland 
taxes,  levied  upon  the  privilege  of  engaging  in  the  manufac- 
ture and  sale  of  named  articles,  or  of  deaHng  in  certain  com- 
modities, or  of  pursuing  a  certain  occupation,  or  of  exercising 
corporate  privileges.     They  are  not  taxes  on  property  itself, 


POWERS  OF  CONGRESS— TAXATION.  73 

but  taxes  on  the  exercise  of  the  privilege  of  engaging  in  a 
certain  business.  They  are  levied  on  distillers  for  the  privilege 
of  manufacturing  and  seHing  whiskey,  on  brewers  for  the 
privilege  of  making  and  selling  beer,  on  saloonkeepers  and 
others  for  the  privilege  of  selling  intoxicating  liquors,  and 
on  the  net  incomes  of  corporations  for  the  privilege  of  engaging 
in  interstate  business;  they  have  in  times  of  war  and  even  in 
times  of  peace  been  levied  on  the  privilege  of  conveying 
land  by  deeds  and  of  giving  notes  for  money  borrowed  (in 
the  form  of  revenue  stamps),  and  during  the  Civil  War  they 
were  levied  on  lawyers,  merchants,  hotel  keepers,  owners  of 
public  omnibuses  and  theatres,  as  a  charge  of  so  much  a  year 
for  the  privilege  of  engaging  in  those  occupations.  Thus,  a 
tax  of  ninety  cents  a  gallon  on  all  whiskeys  made  in  this 
country  would  be  an  excise,  as  would  also  an  annual  charge 
of  five  dollars  to  each  retail  dealer  for  permission  to  sell 
whiskeys;  while  a  tax  of  any  amount  levied  at  any  port  of 
entry  upon  all  whiskeys  or  wines  made  abroad  and  shipped 
into  this  country,  would  be  an  impost  or  tariff.  The  revenue 
raised  from  excises  varies  with  the  years,  and  with  the  things 
taxed  and  the  rates  imposed,  but  it  has  often  amounted  to 
more  than  three  hundred  million  dollars  a  year. 

60.  How  Excises  are  Collected. — For  the  purpose  of 
collecting  excises  each  State  is  divided  into  districts  of  con- 
venient size,  over  which  there  is  placed  an  internal  revenue 
collector,  with  deputies  and  other  assistants.  The  maker 
of  liquors  is  required  before  he  enters  upon  the  manufacture 
thereof  to  take  out  a  license  permitting  him  to  do  so,  and  if 
he  does  not  do  so  he  is  subject  to  heavy  fines  and  even  im- 
prisonment. At  his  distillery  or  brewery  he  must  maintain 
a  warehouse  in  which  his  goods  are  stored  as  fast  as  made, 
and  this  is  in  the  keeping  of  a  Government  officer  called  a 
storekeeper.  Connected  therewith  are  other  officers  called 
gangers,  who  measure  the  quantities  made,  and  on  each 
gallon  so  measured  the  law  fixes  a  tax,  which  must  be  paid 


74         CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

before  the  liquors  are  moved  from  the  warehouse,  except 
that  they  may  be  moved  to  another  one  called  a  "bonded 
warehouse"  on  the  giving  of  a  bond  that' the  taxes  will  be  paid 
within  a  certain  time. 

If  the  law  levies  excise  taxes  upon  the  privilege  of  issuing 
deeds,  notes,  bonds,  telegrams,  insurance  policies,  they  are 
imposed  by  requiring  each  such  instrument  to  bear  a  stamp 
of  a  named  aftnount.  The  stamps  are  sold  by  the  internal 
revenue  collector  to  any  person  wishing  to  buy  them,  and  by 
buying  them  the  buyer  pays  the  tax. 

A  corporation  is  required  to  make  a  report  to  the  collector 
showing  its  entire  net  income  from  all  sources  for  the  year, 
and  then  a  tax  equal  to  a  certain  per  cent  of  that  income  is 
levied.  The  first  law  taxing  incomes  of  corporations  was 
enacted  in  1909,  and  it  fixed  the  tax  at  one  per  cent  of  the 
net  income  above  five  thousand  dollars.  But  Congress  can 
from  time  to  time  vary  the  per  cent,  and  if  it  wishes  lay  a 
tax  on  the  entire  net  incomes  of  all  corporations  doing  an 
interstate   business. 

61.  Uniformity. — "All  duties,  imposts  and  excises  shall 
be  uniform  throughout  the  United  States."  The  revenue 
collected  for  the  manufacture  of  a  gallon  of  whiskey  of  a  given 
grade  is  the  same  whether  made  in  New  England  or  Kentucky. 
The  imposts  on  sugars  are  the  same  at  New  Orleans  as  at  New 
York.  These  charges  are  fixed  by  a  general  law,  which 
simply  declares  that  all  silks  of  a  named  weight  and  quality 
shipped  into  this  country  shall  pay  certain  duties;  that 
hides  shall  pay  certain  other  duties;  and  that  certain  other 
articles  (such  as  gold)  shall  be  admitted  free  of  any  duty  at 
all  ports.  The  value  of  this  provision  for  uniformity  cannot 
be  overestimated.  If  Congress  could  fix  one  tax  rate  on  an 
article  if  entered  at  one  port  and  a  different  rate  if  entered  at 
another  port,  it  could  by  a  tariff  law  alone  ruin  or  enrich  any 
part  of  the  country,  according  to  its  own  wishes.  If  a  very 
high  tariff  were  imposed  on  all  cloths  entered  at  an  Atlantic 


POWERS  OF  CONGRESS— TAXATION.  75 

or  other  Northern  port,  but  admitted  free  of  duty  if  entered 
at  New  Orleans,  the  discrimination  might  result  in  the  ruin 
of  the  clothing  factories  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  and  the 
consequent  enrichment  of  those  of  New  England.  Besides, 
such  a  discrimination  would  cause  the  system  of  tariff  tax- 
ation to  break  down  because  of  its  own  inequalities  and  in- 
justice; it  would  produce  discord,  confusion  and  constant 
bickering;  it  would  be  a  denial  of  equal  rights  under  the  law. 
Hence,  the  value  of  this  provision  that  requires  all  tariff  and 
internal  revenue  taxes  to  be  uniform  throughout  the  United 
States. 

62.  Direct  Taxes:  Incomes. — But  there  is  no  such 
rule  of  uniformity  for  direct  taxes.  The  Constitution  re- 
quires a  direct  tax  levied  by  Congress  to  be  apportioned 
among  the  States  according  to  their  respective  populations, 
and  says  that  "no  capitation  or  other  direct  tax  shall  be  laid" 
unless  so  apportioned.  Thus,  the  question  arises  at  once, 
what  are  direct  taxes  within  the  meaning  of  the  Constitution? 
If  a  tax  levied  by  Congress  is  an  indirect  one  it  can  be  levied 
on  the  article  named  wherever  found ;  but  if  it  is  a  direct  one, 
before  it  can  be  collected,  Congress  must  determine  how 
much  of  it  must  be  paid  by  each  State.  For  instance,  when 
Congress  levied  a  tax  of  twenty  million  dollars  on  lands  in 
1861,  it  divided  up  the  whole  amount  among  the  several 
States,  and  against  the  lands  in  each  was  assessed  such  a 
part  thereof  as  the  number  of  its  inhabitants  bore  to  the 
whole  number  in  all  the  States.  Missouri's  share  was  fixed 
at  $761,127.33.  There  was  no  doubt  of  the  validity  bf  that 
tax,  for  it  has  always  been  admitted  that  taxes  on  lands  are 
direct  taxes.  It  is  also  admitted  that  ''capitation"  or  poll 
taxes,  or  taxes  on  persons,  are  direct  taxes;  in  fact,  the  Con- 
stitution says  so  in  so  many  words,  for  it  declares  (Art.  I, 
sec.  9,  clause  4)  that  ''no  capitation  or  other  direct  tax  shall 
be  laid  unless  in  proportion  to  the  census."  For  a  long  time 
it  was  contended  that  in  the  sense  in  which  the  words  "direct 


76  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

taxes"  were  used  in  the  Constitution  there  were  no  direct 
taxes  except  taxes  on  lands  and  persons,  and  hence  that  it 
was  not  necessary  to  apportion  any  other  taxes  among  the 
States.  But  slowly  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States 
came  around  to  the  view  that  taxes  on  the  income  of  lands, 
such  as  rents,  were  also  direct  taxes;  and  when  Congress  in 
1894  levied  a  tax  on  incomes,  without  apportioning  the  amount 
among  the  States,  that  court  held  the  law  to  be  in  violation 
of  the  Constitution,  because  it  laid  a  tax  on  the  incomes  of 
lands,  which  was  in  effect  the  same  as  laying  the  tax  on  the 
lands  themselves.  This  decision  made  it  impossible  to  levy 
taxes  on  incomes  from  lands,  for,  except  rented  lands,  it  is 
almost  impossible  to  ascertain  the  net  income  of  a  farm  or 
house.  But  there  had  grown  up  a  general  demand  in  the 
popular  mind  for  an  income  tax,  and  so  in  1909  Congress 
proposed  to  the  legislatures  of  the  several  States  the  Six- 
teenth Amendment  to  the  Constitution,  which  provided  that 
"Congress  shall  have  power  to  lay  and  collect  taxes  on  incomes, 
from  whatever  source  derived,  without  apportionment  among 
the  several  States,  and  without  regard  to  any  census  or 
enumeration."  That  amendment  was  ratified  by  the  legis- 
latures of  three-fourths  of  the  States  by  February  25,  1913, 
and  hence  became  a  part  of  the  Constitution.  Congress  was 
not  slow  in  using  the  power  it  gave.  In  August,  1913,  it 
enacted  a  law  levying  a  tax  upon  the  net  incomes  of  unmarried 
persons  in  excess  of  three  thousand  dollars,  and  upon  the 
net  income  of  a  married  person  in  excess  of  four  thousand 
dollars.  The  tax  is  usually  graduated ;  that  is,  the  larger  the 
net  income  of  a  person  the  greater  is  the  percentage  of  the  tax 
he  must  pay.  For  instance,  the  tax  upon  incomes  between 
$3,000  or  $4,000  and  $20,000  was  by  the  Act  of  1913  made 
one  per  cent  of  the  net  income;  on  net  incomes  between  $20,000 
and  $50,000,  it  was  two  per  cent,  etc.,  increasing  as  the  net 
income  increased,  until  it  was  six  per  cent  on  all  incomes  in 
excess  of  a  half  million  dollars. 


POWERS  OF  CONGRESS— TAXATION.  77 

An  income  tax,  and  especially  one  so  graduated  as  to 
increase  as  incomes  increase  in  size,  seems  to  run  counter  to 
the  rule  of  uniformity  and  to  be  a  denial  of  equality  before 
the  law;  it  applies  alike  ''throughout  the  United  States," 
but  it  levies  a  higher  tax  on  larger  incomes  them  on  small 
ones;  but  the  grounds  upon  which  such  a  tax  is  based  are: 
first,  the  tax,  while  it  falls  only  on  persons  of  wealth,  falls  on 
those  who  are  most  able  to  pay  it,  since  incomes  should  be 
used  primarily  to  support  families,  and  persons  of  large 
wealth  have  no  more  children  to  support  than  poorer  ones; 
and,  second,  the  concentration  of  immense  fortunes  in  the 
hands  of  a  few  persons  is  not  good  for  the  peace  of  the  country 
and  the  prosperity  of  the  people  as  a  whole,  and  an  income 
tax,  especially  if  it  is  graduated,  tends  to  check  that  con- 
centration. 

The  tax  on  the  incomes  of  persons  is  collected  by  the 
collectors  of  internal  revenue,  in  much  the  same  way  that 
they  collect  the  tax  on  the  incomes  of  corporations. 

The  Sixteenth  Amendment  says  nothing  about  taxes  on 
lands  or  persons;  and  hence,  notwithstanding  that  amend- 
ment, a  tax  on  either  would  still  be  a  direct  tax,  and  in  order 
to  be  valid  would  have  to  be  apportioned  among  the  States 
in  proportion  to  their  populations. 

63.  Usual  Methods  of  Taxation. — Congress  has  enacted 
few  laws  imposing  a  direct  tax,  and  then  only  for  short 
periods,  usually  during  a  war.  It  has  at  nearly  all  times 
raised  the  national  Government's  revenue  by  imposing  taxes 
admitted  to  be  indirect.  On  the  other  hand,  the  States  (and 
the  towns  and  counties  organized  by  them)  have  raised  much 
of  their  revenue  by  imposing  direct  taxes.  So  that  it  may 
be  said  that  the  national  Government's  revenue  is,  for  the 
most  part,  raised  by  indirect  taxes,  and  the  revenue  of  States 
and  counties  and  cities  and  public  schools  are  raised  largely 
by  direct  taxes,  that  is,  taxes  imposed  directly  on  tangible 
property. 


78         CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

64.  Purposes  of  Taxation. — The  purposes  for  which  the 
Government  may  levy  taxes  are  specified  by  this  clause  of 
the  Constitution.  They  are  "to  pay  the  debts  and  provide 
for  the  common  defense  and  general  welfare  of  the  United 
States."  These  are  comprehensive  words.  The  power  given 
by  them  to  Congress  is  very  extensive,  but  indefinite  and 
not  easily  defined. 

It  is  easy  to  understand  what  is  meant  by  the  words, 
"to  pay  the  debts  of  the  United  States."  They  mean  that 
whenever  the  Government  has  honestly  contracted  a  debt 
it  must  pay  it,  and  that  it  has  power  to  raise  money  by  tax- 
ation with  which  to  pay  it.  It  is  equally  as  easy  to  understand 
what  is  meant  by  "to  provide  for  the  common  defense."  It 
means  that  whenever  a  foreign,  or  even  a  domestic  enemy, 
threatens  the  peace  of  the  Union,  it  has  power  to  levy  taxes 
to  obtain  money  with  which  to  provide  an  army  or  navy  or 
other  means  for  warding  off-  and  putting  down  such  enemy, 
and  even  to  provide  means  in  time  of  peace  for  meeting  any 
trouble  that  may  at  any  time  arise. 

But  what  is  meant  "to  provide  for  the  general  welfare?" 
Does  that  mean  that  Congress  has  power  to  levy  taxes  for 
building  railroads,  or  for  buying  and  operating  them  after 
they  are  built,  or  for  building  levees  to  prevent  the  waters  of 
the  Mississippi  and  other  rivers  from  overflowing  bottom 
lands,  or  for  establishing  schools  and  educating  children 
throughout  the  country,  or  for  providing  pensions  for  widows 
and  aged  persons  and  support  for  those  unable  to  obtain 
employment,  or  for  stamping  out  yellow  fever  or  cholera,  or 
for  paying  bounties  to  sugar  producers?  Or,  does  it  mean 
that,  if  these  things  are  done  at  all  by  government,  they  are 
to  be  done  by  the  States  individually,  and  the  Congress  is  to 
undertake  to  do  only  those  things  necessary  for  the  general 
welfare  which  the  States  cannot  successfully  do?  Statesmen 
and  parties  have  differed  as  to  the  Union's  power  under  this 
"general  welfare"  clause. 


POWERS  OF  CONGRESS— TAXATION.  79 

There  have  always  been  those  who  have  contended  that 
Congress  has  power  to  levy  taxes  for  anything  which  it  may 
think  for  the  general  welfare;  that  the  question  is  not  one  of 
power,  but  one  of  expediency;  that  the  power  of  Congress 
in  such  matters  is  unquestionable,  but  whether  or  not  it  should 
exercise  that  power  depends  on  circumstances,  and  that  the 
whole  point  resolves  itself  into  an  inquiry  as  to  what  is  wise 
and  best  for  the  public  good  in  each  particular  case. 

On  the  other  hand,  parties  composed  of  men  equally 
patriotic  have  maintained  that  Congress  has  no  such  power, 
and  that  even  if  it  has  it  would  be  unwise  to  exercise  it  except 
in  very  clear  cases.  They  say  that  it  is  giving  to  the  words 
"to  provide  for  the  general  welfare"  an  extreme  and  strained 
meaning  to  hold  that  they  authorize  Congress  to  tax  the 
people  for  whatever  either  it  or  the  majority  of  the  people 
may  deem  for  the  general  good;  that  if  Congress,  under  this 
clause,  can  do  whatever  it  wishes  to  do,  it  can  do  whatever 
a  majority  of  its  members  may  think  would  be  for  the  general 
welfare,  and  if  that  is  the  case  why  have  any  Constitution  at 
all?  Why,  they  ask,  if  that  is  the  meaning  of  these  words, 
was  not  Congress  given  the  unfettered  power  to  do  whatever 
it  deems  wise  or  expedient?  Constitutions,  they  argue,  are 
made  for  the  protection  of  the  minority  from  the  arbitrary 
tyranny  of  a  headlong  and  partisan  majority,  and  if  majori- 
ties in  Congress  can  do  what  they  please,  the  Constitution 
itself  is  a  useless  and  vain  thin^.  They  contend  that  the 
sole  purpose  for  the  Union  was  that  there  might  be  a  general 
or  central  authority  to  do  for  the  States  what  experience  had 
taught  them  they  could  not  do  separately,  and  that  all  other 
powers  were  in  express  words  "reserved  to  the  States  or  to 
the  people."  They,  moreover,  have  contended  for  the  general 
principle  that,  as  a  matter  of  practical  wisdom  and  permanent 
peace,  neither  the  Union  nor  the  States  should  ever  undertake 
to  exercise  any  power,  even  if  given,  except  when  to  do  so  is 
clearly  for  the  public  good  and  the  orderly  workings  of  society. 


80         CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

The  student  must  decide  for  himself  which  of  these  views 
is  correct,  and  in  seeking  for  aid  from  the  writings  and  speeches 
of  others  he  will  enter  a  field  of  most  useful  and  patriotic 
inquiry. 

Questions  on  Chapter  VI. 

1.  Where  are  the  powers  of  Congress  found?     (52) 

2.  What  has  been  the  effect  of  exercising  these  powers?     (52) 

3.  Must  Congress  exercise  every  power  conferred?     (52) 

4.  Give  some  examples.     (52) 

5.  What  are  exclusive  powers?     (52) 

6.  Quote  the  language  as  to  power  of  taxation?     (53) 

7.  What  was  the  effect  of  exercising  this  power?     (53)* 

8.  Give  one  reason  why  the  Union  under  the  Articles  of  Confedera- 

tion broke  down?     (53)     How  avoided  under  Constitution? 
(53) 

9.  Upon  what  things  does  Congress  lay  taxes?     (53) 

10.  What  is  money  raised  by  taxation  called  and  for  what  used? 

(54) 

11.  How  are  taxes  laid  by  Congress  classified?     (55) 

12.  Define  indirect  taxes.     (55) 

13.  What  are  imposts  and  how  popularly  known?     (55) 

14.  What  is  a  specific  tariff?     An  ad  valorem  tariff?     (55) 

15.  Define  and  discuss  a  protective  tariff.     (56) 

16.  Define  and  discuss  a  tariff  for  revenue  only.     (57) 

17.  How  are  imposts  collected?     (58) 

18.  What  are  revenue  cutters?     (58) 

19.  What  are  excises?     (59) 

20.  Upon  what  are  they  levied?     (59) 

21.  Do  they  ever  take  the  form  of  a  stamp  tax?     (59) 

22.  Can  they  be  levied  on  occupations?     (59) 

23.  How  are  excises  collected :     1st,  on  whiskey  and  beer;  2nd,  on 

deeds,  etc.;  3rd,  on  incomes  of  corporations?     (60) 

24.  What  taxes  must  be  uniform?     (61) 

25.  How  are  they  made  uniform?     (61) 

'     26.  Give  some  reasons  for  the  value  of  the  rule  for  uniformity.     (61) 

27.  Is  there  any  such  rule  for  direct  taxes?     (62) 

28.  How  must  they  be  apportioned?     (62) 

29.  What  taxes  are  admitted  to  be  direct?     (62) 

30.  How  was  it  made  possible  to  tax  incomes  without  apportioning 

them  among  the  States?     (62) 


POWERS  OVER  COMMERCE.  81 

31.  Are  all  incomes  taxed?     Is  the  tax  uniform?     (62) 

32.  Can  you  give  any  just  ground  for  a  graduated  income  tax?     (62) 

33.  How  are  taxes  on  the  incomes  of  persons  collected?     (62) 

34.  Must  taxes  on  lands  and  persons  still  be  apportioned  among  the 

States?     (62) 

35.  What  has  been  the  usual  method  of  taxation  employed  by  the 

Government?     And  by  the  States?     (63) 

36.  For  what  purposes  may  Congress  lay  taxes?     (64) 

37     What  is  meant  by  "to  pay  the  debts  of  the  United  States?" 
(64) 

38.  What  is  meant  by  "to  provide  for  the  common  defense?"      (64) 

39.  What  has  one  party  contended  could  be  done  under  "the  general 

welfare"  clause?     (64) 

40.  What  has  been  the  contention  of  the  opposite  party?     (64) 


CHAPTER  VII. 

POWERS  OVER  COMMERCE. 

65.  To  Regulate  Commerce. — Section  8  of  article  I  of 
the  Constitution  says  that  "the  Congress  shall  have  power  to 
regulate  commerce  with  foreign  nations,  and  among  the  several 
States,  and  with  the  Indian  tribes." 

For  a  century  after  the  formation  of  the  Union,  it  was 
generally,  almost  unanimously,  believed  that  this  power  was 
solely  to  regulate  commerce,  not  to  engage  in  it.  But  in  late 
years  the  view  that  the  power  to  regulate  necessarily  implies 
the  power  to  engage  in  commerce  has  been  gaining  a  larger 
place  in  the  minds  of  students  of  the  Constitution;  and 
hence  statesmen  who  believe  that  the  first  duty  of  the  Gov- 
ernment is  to  provide  for  the  general  welfare  and  that  an  easy 
and  wide  commerce  is  necessary  for  the  people's  prosperity, 
have  come  forward  to  urge  that  the  Government  should  own 
great  railroads  and  great  lines  of  ships  by  which  the  necessaries 
of  life  can  be  cheaply  carried  to  and  fro  between  any  part 
of  this  country  and  other  nations.  ,  Other  statesmen  stoutly 
deny  that  Congress  has  any  power  to  authorize  the  Govern- 
ment to  engage  in  either  domestic  or  foreign  commerce;  they 

6 


82  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

contend  that  Congress  has  the  right  to  regulate  commerce 
between  the  States  and  with  foreign  countries,  to  prescribe 
rules  by  which  private  persons  may  carry  it  on,  and  to  aid 
them  by  providing  necessary  facilities,  such  as  wharfs  and 
lighthouses,  but  that  the  Government  cannot  engage  in  such 
trade  itself.  Others  contend  that,  even  if  the  Government 
has  power  to  engage  in  interstate  and  foreign  commerce,  the 
power  should  be  admitted  to  exist  only  in  times  of  emergency, 
when  private  persons  cannot  provide  means  for  carrying  it 
on,  and  that  it  would  be  unwise  to  exercise  the  power  per- 
manently or  beyond  the  unexpected  emergency  which  jus- 
tified its  use  at  all.  The  question  has  not  been  settled.  It 
may  some  day  become  a  very  live  issue  in  American  politics. 

66.  Foreign  Commerce. — Under  this  power,  Congress 
has  prescribed  rules  under  which  ships  may  carry  the  United 
States  flag,  the  terms  upon  which  they  may  enter  our  ports 
in  times  of  peace  or  war,  and  pointed  out  the  nations  our  ships 
may  not  visit.  It  has  caused  to  be  constructed  lighthouses, 
beacons  and  buoys  along  the  coast,  and  wharfs  for  the  landing 
of  ships,  and  custom  houses  at  which  to  register,  pay  the  port 
fees,  and  unload  their  goods.  It  has  prescribed  rules  to  be 
observed  by  the  officers  and  crews  of  American  ships  while 
on  voyages,  and  punishments  for  violations  thereof.  Other 
rules  protect  passengers  from  infectious  diseases  and  regulate 
the  carrying  of  inflammable  goods  and  explosives.  It  has 
spent  immense  sums  of  money  in  river  and  harbor  improve- 
ments and  the  construction  of  wharfs.  Many  fine  ports,  ac- 
cording to  the  needs  of  commerce,  have  been  constructed 
under  this  commerce  clause  at  the  chief  cities  along  the  sea 
shore.  Under  the  power  given  by  it  Congress  can  prescribe 
the  terms  upon  which  the  vessels  of  other  nations  may  land 
at  any  of  our  ports,  and  even  prohibit  their  landing  at  all, 
and  also  suppress  piracy  on  the  high  seas. 

67.  Interstate  Commerce. — This  clause  gives  Congress 
exclusive  power  to  regulate  commerce   "among  the  several 


POWERS  OVER  COMMERCE.  83 

States."  Commerce  among  the  States  means  commerce 
which  concerns  more  than  one  State.  It  means  intercourse 
and  traffic  by  the  people  of  one  State  with  those  of  another. 
It  is  usually  spoken  of  as  "interstate  commerce,"  and  it  applies 
to  all  shipments  of  things  or  the  travel  of  persons  from  one 
State  to  another.  Congress  may  prescribe  the  railroad  fare 
and  accommodations  of  any  person  traveling  by  a  continuous 
line  of  railroad  from  a  point  in  one  State  to  a  point  in  another 
State ;  and  it  may  prescribe  the  charges  which  such  a  railroad 
may  make  for  carr>^ing  grain,  stock,  coal  or  any  kind  of 
merchandise  from  one  State  into  another  State,  and  the  kind 
of  cars  such  railroad  shall  use ;  and  it  can  prescribe  the  greatest 
number  of  hours  out  of  every  day  such  a  railroad  company 
may  work  its  employees,  and  the  amount  of  damages  it  must 
pay  for  an  injury  to  its  trainmen;  and  all  these  things  it  has 
done,  and  that  being  the  case  no  passenger  fare  for  interstate 
travel  and  no  freight  charge  for  any  interstate  shipment  fixed 
by  any  State  is  binding  on  any  such  company.  The  power 
of  Congress  is  exclusive  and  supreme  over  interstate  commerce, 
and  that  applies  to  interstate  shipments  not  only  by  railroads, 
but  by  express  companies,  steamboats  and  ships.  The 
Legislature  of  this  State  may  consider  the  fare  charged  a 
passenger  from  a  point  in  this  State  to  Chicago  by  an  inter- 
state railroad  too  high,  or  the  freight  charge  for  shipping 
goods  from  New  York  to  some  point  in  this  State  is  too  low, 
but  it  cannot  by  law  either  lower  the  one  or  increase  the  other, 
for  both  are  interstate  commerce,  and  Congress  alone  has 
been  given  power  "to  regulate  commerce  among  the  several 
States."    ' 

67a.  Interstate  Commerce  Commission. — The  great 
bulk  of  interstate  commerce  is  done  by  railroads.  Nearly 
one-half  of  the  railroad  mileage  of  the  world  is  in  the  United 
States.  In  operating  them  hundreds  of  thousands  of  men  are 
engaged.  The  safety,  health  and  habits  of  those  men  in- 
timately concern  the  whole  public.     Almost  every  town  in 


84         CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

the  land  is  dependent  on  railroads  for  its  daily  supply  of  food. 
The  prosperity  of  farming  and  manufacturing  very  largely 
depends  upon  freight  rates  charged  by  railroads,  for  rail- 
roads have  no  source  of  income  except  the  charges  they 
exact  from  shippers  for  carrying  their  goods  and  the  pas- 
senger fares  they  receive  from  travelers.  It  is  the  duty  of 
the  Government,  which  alone  can  act  for  the  public,  to  see  to 
it  that  those  rates  are  just  to  both  shippers  and  the  railroad 
companies.  They  must  be  reasonable;  they  must  be  fair  to 
all  persons  concerned — to  the  owners  of  the  railroads,  to  the 
trainmen  who  must  be  paid  for  their  dangerous  work,  and  to 
the  shipper  and  traveler,  and  to  the  public,  whose  servants 
they  primarily  are  and  for  whose  accommodation  and  use 
they  are  permitted  to  exist.  The  Congress  can  enact  laws 
prescribing  what  freight  charges  and  passenger  fares  they 
may  exact.  It  can  also  prescribe  the  kind  of  cars  that  may 
be  used,  and  rules  relating  to  the  safety,  health  and  working 
conditions  of  trainmen,  and  the  safety  and  accommodation 
of  shippers  and  passengers.  It  has  enacted  laws  pertaining 
to  all  these  subjects.  But  in  the  very  nature  of  things  freight 
and  passenger  rates  cannot  be  uniform  throughout  so  great 
a  country  as  this.  Just  rates  for  one  part  of  the  country 
would  be  too  high  or  too  low  for  another  part.  To  aid  it  in 
regulating  interstate  commerce,  whether  by  railroads  or 
steamboats,  Congress  created  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com- 
mission, consisting  of  seven  commissioners  appointed  by  the 
President,  each  for  a  term  of  seven  years,  at  an  annual 
salary  of  ten  thousand  dollars.  Not  more  than  four  of  them 
can  belong  to  the  same  political  party.  The  Commission 
has  been  given  power  by  Congress  to  make  reasonable  in- 
creases or  decreases  in  railroad  rates  in  any  part  of  the  country. 
To  make  such  rates  just,  it  divides  the  country  into  great 
sections,  and  prescribes  the  same  passenger  and  freight  rates 
for  all  the  railroads  in  that  section,  and  different  rates  for 
others;  for  instance,  it  can  fix  the  maximum  rates  all  trunk 


POWERS  OVER  COMMERCE.  85 

railroads  east  of  the  Mississippi  River  and  north  of  the  Ohio 
may  charge,  and  prescribe  other  rates  for  the  railroads  west 
of  the  Mississippi,  or  along  the  Rocky  Mountains.  It  can 
prescribe  the  terms  of  shipping  contracts,  require  all  shippers 
to  be  treated  alike,  prescribe  rules  for  the.  accommodation 
and  safety  of  trainmen  and  travelers,  and  regulate  the  hundreds 
of  details  in  the  operation  of  railroads  in  which  the  public  is 
interested.  And  it  has  similar  powers  to  regulate  commerce 
by  boats  or  ships,  between  the  States,  or  between  this  and 
foreign  countries. 

67b.  Free  Trade  Between  States. — Another  clause  of 
the  Constitution  (Art.  I,  sec.  9,  clause  4)  says  that  "no  prefer- 
ence shall  be  given  by  any  regulation  of  commerce  or  revenue 
to  the  ports  of  one  State  over  those  of  another,  nor  shall 
vessels  bound  to  or  from  one  State  be  obliged  to  enter,  clear 
or  pay  duties  in  another."  The  purpose  of  giving  Congress 
power  to  regulate  interstate  commerce  was  not  to  give  it 
power  to  destroy  such  trade,  but  to  leave  it  free,  "in  order 
to  form  a  more  perfect  union."  Congress  must  use  this  power 
to  establish  harmony  and  peace  and  not  discord  among  the 
States;  it  was  given  to  "protect  and  promote  the  free  and  un- 
obstructed movement  of  men  and  things  between  the  States 
in  the  family  of  the  Union."  So  it  is  provided  that  no  State 
can  impose  an  impost  or  tariff  tax  on  any  goods  shipped  into 
it  from  another  State  or  foreign  country  "except  what  may 
be  absolutely  necessary  for  executing  its  inspection  laws." 
Goods  made  or  produced  in  other  States  may  be  shipped  into 
this  State  and  here  sold  in  like  manner  as  goods  produced 
here,  without  the  payment  of  any  impost  tax,  and  orderly 
citizens  of  those  States  may  at  pleasure  pass  into  or  out  of 
yours,  and  your  State  cannot  prevent  such  traffic,  nor  im- 
pede the  freedom  of  such  intercourse,  except  in  so  far  as  it 
may  be  necessary  to  preserve  the  health  of  your  people  and 
the  orderly  workings  of  society.  And  foreign  goods  properly 
admitted  at  any  port  of  entry  may  in  like  manner  be  shipped 


86  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

into  your  State  and  sold,  and  the  State  cannot  impose  any 
import  tax  on  them  without  the  consent  of  Congress,  and  then 
the  net  proceeds  of  such  imposts  must  be  turned  over  to  the 
United  States  treasury,  and  hence,  as  Congress  has  never 
given  its  consent  and  likely  never  will,  no  State  has  ever 
levied  an  impost  tax  on  foreign-made  goods  and  in  all  prob- 
ability never  will. 

67  c.  Inspection  and  Quarantine. — ^We  may,  therefore, 
say  that  no  State  can  levy  an  impost  on  goods  shipped  into 
it,  nor  in  any  wise  deny  to  such  goods  that  equal  freedom 
of  sale  that  like  goods  made  within  the  State  enjoy,  unless 
to  do  so  would  jeopardize  the  public  health,  and  that  is  what 
is  meant  by  the  clause  quoted  above,  "except  what  may  be 
absolutely  necessary  for  executing  its  inspection  laws."  The 
State  can,  in  the  interest  of  public  health  or  safety,  require 
all  foods  shipped  into  the  State  and  there  offered  for  sale, 
to  be  of  a  certain  quality  and  to  be  free  from  poisons  and  other 
hurtful  substances;  it  may,  as  a  precaution  against  explosions 
and  fires,  require  all  oils  shipped  into  the  State  for  local  con- 
sumption, to  be  inspected;  and,  to  guard  against  diseases, 
it  may  require  wheat  and  corn  and  meats  and  fish  and  cattle 
and  horses  shipped  into  the  State  from  another  State,  to  be 
inspected,  and  even  destroyed;  and  it  may  impose  an  in- 
spection fee  in  every  such  case,  which  the  owner  of  the  thing 
shipped  in  must  pay  before  he  can  sell  it,  and  in  some  cases 
before  he  can  even  use  it.  It  can  also  prohibit  the  entrance 
into  the  State  of  persons  or  animals  afflicted  with  infectious 
diseases.  All  these  things  it  can  do  without  the  consent  of 
Congress,  because  the  health  and  safety  of  its  citizens  may 
require  such  precautions;  but  the  inspection  fees  in  every 
such  case  must  be  reasonable,  nor  can  they  be  so  used  as  to 
destroy  or  materially  impede  interstate  commerce. 

67(1.  Trade  Within  the  State. — Nor  has  Congress  any 
control  over  the  trade  and  intercourse  of  the  people  wholly 
within  a  State.      Goods  shipped  into  a  State,  as  soon  as  they 


POWERS  OVER  COMMERCE.  87 

have  been  mingled  with  and  become  a  part  of  the  property 
of  the  State,  may  be  taxed  for  State  and  county  and  city 
purposes,  just  as  goods  produced  there.  Thus,  a  State  may 
require  a  license  tax  of  merchants  or  the  seller  of  spirituous 
liquors,  and  those  licenses  must  be  paid,  whether  the  goods 
were  produced  within  the  State  or  elsewhere.  Nor  will 
Congress  interfere  with  a  State  law  fixing  reasonable  and  just 
freight  charges  for  goods  and  fares  for  passengers  transported 
from  one  place  in  the  State  to  another  within  the  State  by 
an  interstate  railroad,  nor  with  laws  providing  for  separate 
coaches  for  white  and  negro  persons  traveling  from  one  place 
to  another  within  the  State,  if  the  accommodations  are  other- 
wise equal,  for  this  is  not  commerce  "among  the  States." 

68.  Trade  With  Indians. — No  State  can  prescribe  any 
rule  for  trading  with  uncivilized  Indians  living  within  its 
borders.  Congress  alone  can  do  that.  It  has  fixed  a  penalty 
for  selling  guns  and  ammunition  to  hostile  and  uncivilized 
Indians,  and  prohibited  any  one  to  trade  with  them  except 
persons  of  good  moral  character  who  have  been  specially 
licensed  to  do  so,  giving  a  bond  for  honest  dealing. 

Questions  on  Chapter  VII. 

1.  What  power  has  Congress  over  commerce?     (65) 

2.  Discuss  different  views  as  to  power  of  the  Government  to  engage 

in  foreign  or  interstate  commerce.      (65) 

3.  How  has  Congress  regulated  foreign  commerce?     (66) 

4.  What  does  commerce  among  the  States  mean?     (67) 

5.  How  is  it  usually  spoken  of?     (67) 

6.  Give  some  instances  of  how  Congress  regulates  interstate  com- 

merce.    (67) 

7.  Discuss  railroads  and  Interstate  Commerce  Commission.     (67a) 

8.  What  is  said  of  free  trade  between  the  States?     (67b) 

9.  Can  a  State  impose  an  inspection  fee  on  shipments  into  it? 

(67c) 

10.  Can  it  prevent  entrance  to  persons  or  animals?     (67c) 

11.  For  what  purpose?     (67c) 

12.  Can  Congress  control  trade  or  travel  wholly  within  a  State? 

(67d) 

13.  How  does  Congress  regulate  the  Indian  trade?     (68) 


88         CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

POWER  TO  BORROW  MONEY. 

69.  Necessity  of  Power. — ^The  Congress  is  also  given 
power  "to  borrow  money  on  the  credit  of  the  United  States." 
Without  power  to  borrow  money  no  great  government  could 
at  times  sustain  itself.  In  times  of  war  its  expenses  rapidly 
increase  and  its  revenues  rapidly  decrease.  War  disturbs 
business  and  cripples  trade.  It  decreases  the  people's  capacity 
for  production,  and  lessens  their  opportunity  to  sell  the  things 
they  do  produce.  Commerce  between  nations  is  demoralized 
and  dwindles  away,  for  each  nation  at  war  tries  to  sink  or 
capture  the  ships  of  its  enemies.  These  things  lessen  the 
amount  of  imports  and  to  that  extent  cut  down  the  revenue 
derived  from  imposts.  It  would  add  grievously  to  the 
people's  burdens  to  try  to  meet  this  loss  by  a  commensurate 
increase  in  excises  and  direct  taxes,  for  the  loss  of  their  foreign 
trade  lessons  their  prosperity  at  home.  A  lack  of  power  in 
Congress  to  borrow  money  at  such  times  would  leave  it  unable 
to  "provide  for  the  common  defense.'*  In  other  times  of 
distress,  such  as  financial  panics  or  extensive  droughts,  it 
may  be  wise  for  the  Government  to  borrow  money,  for  to 
try  to  replenish  the  treasury  by  increased  taxation  would 
be  to  lessen  the  people's  capacity  to  pay  their  own  private 
debts,  and  supply  their  own  necessaries;  and  to  carry  to 
speedy  completion  a  great  governmental  enterprise,  whose 
benefits  will  extend  through  generations  and  even  centuries, 
like  the  building  of  the  Panama  Canal,  it  is  proper  for  the 
Government  to  borrow  money. 

70.  Bonds. — Congress  usually  exercises  this  power  of 
borrowing  money  by  authorizing  the  President  to  issue  and 
sell  the  bonds  of  the  United  States,  which  are  simply  the 
Government's  written  promises  to  pay  at  some  future  time. 


POWER  TO  BORROW  MONEY.  89 

These  bonds  thereby  become  debts  that  must  be  paid  or  re- 
newed when  they  become  due,  and  the  money  with  which  to 
pay  them  must  be  raised  by  some  of  the  methods  of  taxation 
discussed  in  Chapter  VI.  The  bonds  if  payable  in  some 
future  year  bear  interest,  and  are  made  payable  at  the  option 
of  the  Government  at  any  time  after  five,  ten  or  twenty 
years  after  their  issue,  but  the  holder  cannot  demand  pay- 
ment for  twenty  or  thirty  or  forty  years.  Thus  they  are 
called  five-twenty,  ten-thirty  or  twenty-forty  bonds — for  ex- 
ample, at  any  time  after  the  end  of  ten  years  the  Government 
can  pay  off  a  ten- thirty  bond,  but  if  the  interest  is  regularly 
paid  the  holder  cannot  demand  payment  until  the  thirty 
years  have  elapsed.  By  pursuing  this  method  the  Govern- 
ment can  either  pay  off  the  bonds  at  any  time  after  the  end 
of  the  first  period,  or  after  that  use  the  intervening  time  before 
they  become  due  to  renew  them  at  a  lower  rate  of  interest. 
Most  of  these  bonds,  now  amounting  to  over  twelve  hundred 
million  dollars  and  once  to  over  tw^o  billions,  were  issued  to 
ob.tain  money  wherewith  to  carry  on  the  Civil  War,  or  in  re- 
newal of  bonds  then  issued.  But  the  first  bond  issue  was 
made  long  before  the  Civil  War,  for  on  February  8,  1813, 
during  our  last  war  with  Great  Britain,  Congress  authorized 
the  President  to  issue  and  sell  sixteen  millions  of  bonds,  the 
money  to  be  used  in  meeting  any  expenses  of  the  Government, 
which  then  were  unusually  large.  The  bonds  issued  to  carry 
on  the  Civil  War  were  at  first  issued  for  short  periods,  and  the 
predominant  rate  of  interest  was  five  or  six  per  cent,  but  as 
the  country  recovered  from  the  ruin  wrought  by  that  war 
they  were  renewed  at  lower  rates  of  interest,  so  that  the 
issues  of  two  hundred  millions  during  the  Cuban  War  were 
made  to  bear  only  three  per  cent,  and  were  for  a  period  of 
ten-tw^enty  years.  But  all  the  Government  bonds  were  not 
issued  for  war  purposes.  More  than  two  hundred  millions 
were  issued  between  18^3  and  1896  in  exchange  for  gold  with 
which  to  redeem  greenbacks  and  other  Treasury  notes,  which 


90  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

according  to  their  terms  were  redeemable  in  coin  whenever 
presented  to  the  Treasury,  and  others  for  the  same  purpose 
were  issued  long  before  that  and  still  others  have  been  issued 
since;  and  about  375  millions  have  been  authorized  first  and 
last  for  the  building  of  the  ship  canal  across  the  Isthmus  of 
Panama. 

71.  United  States  Notes. — If  the  Government's  promises 
to  pay  are  payable  on  demand  or  whenever  presented  to  the 
Treasury,  they  do  not  usually  bear  interest,  and  are  not 
denominated  bonds,  but  "United  States  notes,"  because  in 
that  form  they  are  much  like  the  ordinary  promissory  notes 
of  private  citizens.  They  are  popularly  called  ''greenbacks," 
because  the  devices  on  their  backs  were  printed  with  green 
ink.  A  twenty-dollar  note  simply  reads:  "The  .United 
States  will  pay  to  bearer  twenty  dollars." 

Notes  of  the  United  States  were  first  issued  in  the  War 
of  1812,  and  again  in  the  Mexican  War,  and  on  May  21, 
1838,  Congress  authorized  an  issue  of  five  millions  of  such 
notes  "to  meet  the  current  expenses  of  the  Government." 
Between  1812  and  1861  there  were  ten  or  twelve  issues  of 
notes,  usually  in  amounts  of  five  millions  each,  and  in  all  over 
fifty  millions.  Nearly  all  of  them  were  issued  to  run  for  only 
one  year,  and  were  made  receivable  in  payment  of  taxes  due 
the  Government  and  by  its  officers  in  payment  of  their  sala- 
ries. But  they  were  not  made  a  legal  tender  in  the  payment 
of  private  debts,  nor  was  it  thought  in  those  times  that  Con- 
gress had  power  to  make  them,  or  anything  except  gold  and 
silver,  legal  tender. 

The  next  great  issue  of  the  United  States  notes  began  at 
the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War.  They  were  issued  for  the 
purpose  of  creating  a  quick  emergency  fund  for  raising  and 
equipping  an  army.  Many  of  those  then  issued,  as  well  as 
all  those  issued  prior  thereto,  bore  interest,  and  were  in  all 
respects  bonds  except  that  they  were  made  to  run  for  only  a 
short  time  and  were  in  small  denominations,  so  that  they 


f 


POWER  TO  BORROW  MONEY.  91 


X:ould  be  the  more  readily  sold  and  to  a  larger  number  of  per- 
sons. As  the  expenses  of  the  war  rapidly  rose,  Congress  again 
and  again  resorted  to  this  method  of  sustaining  the  Govern- 
ment. From  the  outset  of  the  war  it  made  its  notes  receiv- 
able in  payment  of  all  debts  due  the  Government,  and  soon 
they  were  used  to  pay  soldiers  and  sailors  for  their  services 
and  to  purchase  their  supplies,  and  as  the  Government  found 
itself  in  1863  in  the  throes  of  a  death-struggle  it  took  the  far- 
reaching  step  of  making  these  notes  a  legal  tender  in  the  pay- 
ment of  all  debts,  public  and  private,  except  duties  on  im- 
ports and  interest  on  Government  bonds,  and  thus  put  them 
into  circulation  to  do  the  work  of  money,  and  hence  they  are 
also  known  as  ''legal  tender  notes."  The  amount  of  these 
notes  soon  after  the  war  was  greatly  decreased  under  an  act 
which  authorized  the  Treasury  to  issue  to  the  holder  in  ex- 
change for  them  an  equal  amount  of  long-time  interest-bear- 
ing bonds.  Thus  all  the  interest-bearing  notes  were  retired 
or  destroyed;  but  in  1868  Congress  prohibited  the  President 
from  retiring  and  cancelling  the  remaining  ones^  and  by  a 
later  law  made  them  redeemable  in  coin  whenever  presented 
to  the  Treasury,  and  in  1900  made  them  redeemable  in  gold 
only.  The  law  which  prohibits  their  retirement  and  cancel- 
lation has  been  re- enacted  again  and  again,  and  is  still  in 
force.  Whenever  these  notes  are  presented  to  the  Treasury 
they  are  taken  up  and  paid  off  in  gold  and  are  ''reissued  and 
paid  out  and  kept  in  circulation,"  and  hence  the  amount 
thereof  since  1878  has  remained  fixed  ($346,681,016)  and  will 
continue  to  be  until  Congress  authorizes  the  Treasury  to  pay 
off  and  destroy  them. 

Questions  on  Chapter  VIII. 

1.  What  is  the  language  of  the  Constitution  as  to  borrowing  money? 

(69) 

2.  Why  should  Congress  have  this  power?     (69) 

3.  Name  some  instances  when  it  seems  necessary  to  borrow  money. 

(69) 


92         CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

4.  How  does  Congress  usually  exercise  this  power?     (70) 

5.  What  are  bonds?    Are  they  debts?     How  are  they  paid?     (70) 

6.  Describe  the  usual  interest-bearing  bonds.     (70) 

7.  For  what  purpose  were  they  issued?     (70) 

8.  For  what  other  purpose  have  bonds  been  issued?     (70) 

9.  Suppose  the  Government's  debts  are  payable  on  demand?     (71) 

10.  Discuss  a  greenback  or  legal  tender  note.     (71) 

11.  When  was  the  next  great  issue  of  notes?     (71) 

12.  For  what  were  they  first  receivable?     (71) 

13.  For  what  were  they  made  receivable  in  1863?     (71) 

14.  What  was  done  in  regard  to  them  at  the  close  of  the  war  and 

in  1868?     (71) 

15.  In  what  were  they  later  made  redeemable,  and  in  1900?     (71) 

16.  Why  is  the  amount  fixed?     (71) 


CHAPTER  IX. 

POWER  OVER  COINAGE,  WEIGHTS  AND  MEASURES. 

73.  The  Coinage  of  Money. — ^Another  clause  of  section 
8  of  article  I  of  the  Constitution  says  that  "the  Congress  shall 
have  power  to  coin  money,  regulate  the  value  thereof,  and  of 
foreign  coins,  and  fix  the  standard  of  weights  and  measures." 
In  connection  with  this  clause  should  be  read  and  considered 
another  (Art.  I,  sec.  10,  clause  1)  which  says  that  "no  State 
shall  coin  money,  emit  bills  of  credit,  or  make  anything  but 
gold  and  silver  coin  a  tender  in  payment  of  debts."  These 
two  clauses  contain  everything  found  in  the  Constitution  on 
the  subject  of  money. 

It  should  be  observed  that  neither  clause  specifically 
says  that  the  Congress  shall  not  have  power  to  make  anything 
but  gold  and  silver  coin  a  tender  in  the  payment  of  debts; 
what  it  does  specifically  say  is  that  no  State  shall  have  that 
power.  It  is  clear  that  no  State  can  issue  paper  money. 
For  a  long  time  it  was  also  contended  that  these  two  clauses 
were  intended  to  mean  that  the  United  States  could  not  issue 
paper  money ;  that  such  meaning  is  found  in  the  fact  that  the 
first  clause  says  that  Congress  shall    have  power  "to  coin 


p 


POWER  OVER  COINAGE,  WEIGHTS.  MEASURES.         93 


money"  and  the  word  "coin"  is  applicable  only  to  gold  and 
silver,  and  that  the  second  clause  says  no  State  shall  "emit 
bills  of  credit,"  which  was  intended  to  be  a  condemnation  of 
paper  money  in  any  form.  The  contention  has  again  and 
again  been  a  very  sharp  and  disturbing  one  in  American 
politics.  But  more  than  a  half  century  ago  Congress  au- 
thorized the  Government  of  the  United  States  to  issue  notes 
and  made  them  a  legal  tender  in  the  payment  of  private 
debts,  but  in  late  years  has  attempted  to  make  them  as  good 
as  gold  by  requiring  them  to  be  paid  with  an  equal  amount 
of  gold  whenever  presented  to  the  Treasury  for  payment; 
and,  hence,  the  question  of  whether  Congress  has  power  to 
make  the  mere  notes  of  the  Government  a  legal  tender  in  pay- 
ment of  private  debts  is  no  longer  as  acute  as  it  was  in  former 
years,  since  the  Congress,  by  making  the  greenbacks  redeem- 
able in  gold,  has  in  effect  come  back  to  the  theory  that  only 
gold  or  silver  is  a  final  legal  tender  for  such  debts.  And  it 
has  pursued  almost  the  same  theory  as  to  bank  currency,  for 
while  it  has  authorized  certain  banks  to  issue  their  notes,  to 
be  passed  as  current  money,  it  has  taken  such  precaution  as 
compels  them  to  be  finally  redeemed  in  gold,  as  will  be  seen 
in  the  subsequent  sections  of  this"  chapter. 

73a.  Exclusive  and  Discretionary  Powers  of  Congress. — 
The  power  of  Congress  to  coin  money  is  an  exclusive  one; 
that  is,  it  is  one  which  Congress  alone  can  exercise.  No  State 
could  exercise  it,  whether  Congress  refused  to  do  so  or  not, 
for  the  Constitution  clearly  says  that  "no  State  shall  coin 
money."  Not  so,  however,  with  weights  and  measures.  Con- 
gress has  power  to  "fix  the  standard  of  weights  and  meas- 
ures," and  this  is  a  power  which  it  may  or  may  not  exercise, 
as  it  chooses,  and  until  it  passes  laws  on  the  subject  the 
States  may  do  so  for  themselves,  but  when  it  does  that  no 
State  can  longer  do  so. 

No  better  illustration  of  the  difference  between  a  mere 
grant  of  a  power  and  the  exclusive  right  to  exercise  a  power 


94  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

granted  to  the  Federal  Government  can  be  found  in  the  Con- 
stitution than  is  contained  in  these  two  clauses.  It  was  more 
than  three  years  after  the  Government  under  the  new  Con- 
stitution was  inaugurated  before  Congress  passed  a  coinage 
law,  but  during  that  time  no  State  could  coin  money  or  regu- 
late foreign  coins.  On  the  other  hand,  although  Congress  has 
always  had  the  power,  it  has  never  undertaken  to  enact  a  law 
fixing  "the  standard  of  weights  and  measures"  except  for  the 
transaction  of  its  own  business,  and  hence  each  State  has 
passed  laws  on  the  subject  for  itself,  and  these  laws  are  bind- 
ing, and  will  continue  to  be  until  Congress  nullifies  them  with 
laws  of  its  own. 

Many  powers  have  been  granted  to  Congress  which  it 
has  never  seemed  expedient  or  wise  to  exercise,  and  hence 
the  States  have  gone  ahead  passing  laws  on  the  subjects, 
and  these  have  always  been  upheld  and  will  be  until  Congress 
exercises  its  power  to  pass  a  general  law  on  the  particular' 
subject,  and  then  so  much  of  the  State  laws  as  are  in  con- 
flict therewith  must  yield  to  the  superior  authority  of  Con- 
gress. 

For  instance,  the  lands  obtained  by  the  purchase  of 
Louisiana  Province  and  by  the  cession  to  the  United  States 
of  the  Northwest  Territory,  became  public  lands,  which  the 
Government  had  surveyed  for  the  purpose  of  disposing  of 
them  to  settlers;  it,  therefore,  had  them  surveyed  by  its  own 
surveyors,  and  in  order  that  there  might  be  uniformity  in 
such  surveys  it  directed  that  the  acre  should  be  the  unit 
of  measure  for  its  lands,  and  that  such  lands  should  be  sur- 
veyed into  sections,  townships  and  ranges,  each  containing 
a  certain  number  of  acres,  and  thus  it  made  the  table  for 
"square  measure"  the  "standard  of  measure"  for  land.  It 
has  also  prescribed  that  the  Troy  pound  shall  be  the  standard 
of  weights  at  the  mints,  in  measuring  gold  and  silver.  These 
things  it  has  done  because  the  selling  of  the  public  lands  and 
the  coinage  of  money  are  its  business.     But  it  has  not  under- 


POWER  OVER  COINAGE,  WEIGHTS,  MEASURES.  95 

taken  to  say  how  many  pounds  shall  make  a  bushel  of  wheat 
or  corn  or  oats,  nor  whether  these  things  shall  be  measured 
by  bushels  or  pounds  or  hogsheads,  but  has  left  those  matters 
to  the  States  to  be  regulated  as  each  may  think  will  best 
serve  the  interests  and  business  of  its  own  people;  and  this 
it  has  done  because  the  laws  of  the  various  States  on  these 
subjects  are  almost  exactly  the  same.  But  if  some  States 
should  declare  that  sixty,  and  others  that  sixty-two,  and 
others  that  fifty-eight  pounds  of  wheat  should  constitute  a 
bushel,  and  thereby  destroy  the  rule  of  uniformity,  and  bring 
confusion  into  the  marts  of  trade,  Congress  w^ould  likely 
interfere  by  enacting  a  law  applicable  to  all  parts  of  the  coun- 
try, declaring  just  how  many  pounds  of  wheat  should  con- 
stitute a  bushel ;  and  that  it  would  do  under  this  clause  which 
gives  it  power  to  fix  the  standard  of  weights  and  measures, 
and  under  the  other  clause  of  the  Constitution  which  vests 
it  with  power  to  regulate  commerce  among  the  States. 

74.  Necessity  For. — The  power  to  coin  money  is  placed 
in  Congress  in  order  to  facilitate  commerce  among  the  States 
and  with  foreign  countries.  In  order  that  trade  may  be  easily 
carried  on,  a  dollar  should  have  the  same  value  throughout 
the  whole  country.  Money  is  the  medium  of  exchange,  and 
coin  is  the  standard  of  value.  It  is  the  measure  by  which 
the  value  of  other  things  is  determined.  It  is  necessary  for 
smooth-going  trade  that  that  measure  of  value  be  the  same 
size  in  all  the  States.  In  the  Colonial  days  the  shilling,  which 
was  the  coin  in  general  use,  in  several  colonies  was  16f  cents, 
and  it  took  six  of  them  to  make  a  dollar;  in  others,  it  was  12^ 
cents,  or  8  to  a  dollar;  in  others  it  was  ISJ  cents;  and  in  still 
others,  21^7  cents.  This  difference  in  the  size  of  these  small 
coins  impeded  trade  among  the  colonies;  and  created  con- 
fusion in  the  public  mind.  So  long  as  each  State  could  de- 
termine for  itself  the  size  of  its  own  coins  there  would  be  no 
uniformity  in  the  moneys  of  the  country.  On  the  other  hand, 
if  the  coins  were  the  same  throughout  the  land,  they  would 


96  .      CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

not  only  facilitate  trade  among  the  States,  but  aid  in  con- 
solidating the  States  into  "a  more  perfect  union."  Thus, 
we  have  two  reasons  for  the  exercise  by  the  national  Govern- 
ment of  this  power  to  coin  money:  (1)  to  establish  uni- 
formity in  the  moneys  of  the  country  and  thus  facilitate  trade 
among  the  States  and  with  foreign  countries,  and  (2)  to 
strengthen  the  bond  of  fraternal  union.  The  exercise  of  this 
power  has  quietly  done  much  to  make  the  United  States  a 
consolidated  nation. 

74a.  The  Decimal  Coinage  System. — In  the  Colonial 
days  sales  were  made  and  contracts  were  expressed  in  English 
money;  that  is,  in  pounds,  shillings  and  pence.  It  is  not  easy 
for  the  average  man  to  make  calculations  in  those  things. 
The  decimal  table,  in  which  the  figure  ten  is  the  multiplier  or 
divisor,  is  easier.  So  after  Independence  was  won  and 
America  had  to  adopt  coins  of  her  own,  Thomas  Jefferson, 
in  1783,  brought  forward  in  the  Continental  Congress  a 
measure  by  which  the  dollar  was  to  be  made  the  unit  of  value, 
and  other  coins  should  be  one-tenth  or  one-hundreth  of  a 
dollar  or  ten  times  a  dollar,  and  the  prices  of  things  should 
be  expressed  in  dollars  and  cents.  It  was  approved  by  that 
Congress  in  1786,  and  so  this  monetary  table  had  been  es- 
tablished in  the  most  of  the  States  before  the  Constitution 
was  adopted ;  and  when  the  Congress,  under  the  clause  of  the 
Constitution  which  gives  it  power  to  coin  money,  enacted  the 
first  coinage  law  on  April  2,  1792,  it  accepted  this  table  as  an 
established  fact.  It  made  the  dollar  the  unit  of  value,  and 
provided  that  the  gold  coins  should  be  eagles,  double  eagles 
and  half,  eagles,  or  ten,  twenty  and  five  dollars  each,  and 
that  the  silver  coins  should  be  dollars,  half  dollars  and  dimes ; 
and  all  these  have  ever  since  been  our  national  coins.  Later 
a  silver  quarter,  or  a  twenty-five  cent  piece,  and  copper  pen- 
nies, or  one-cent  pieces,  and  a  nickel  or  five-cent  piece,  were 
added.  At  one  time,  about  the  close  of  the  Civil  War, 
United  States  notes  in  denominations  of  twenty-five  cents 


F 


*        POWER  OVER  COINAGE,  WEIGHTS,  MEASURES.  97 

and  fifty  cents  were  in  circulation,  but  in  late  years  no  notes 
in  denominations  of  less  than  one  dollar  have  been  issued, 
either  by  the  United  States  or  by  any  bank. 

No  other  nation  has  coins  in  which  the  value  of  things 
can  be  so  easily  calculated  and  expressed.  It  is  easy  to  cal- 
culate in  tens  and  multiples  of  ten.  To  devise  coins  in  which 
the  value  of  all  kinds  of  property  can- be  so  easily  calculated 
and  written,  and  adapted  to  the  smallest  transactions  as  well 
as  the  largest,  was  statesmanship  of  the  highest  order. 

75.  Coining  Money.— Congress  has  taken  exclusive 
control  over  the  coinage  of  money.  It  has  from  the  first 
declared  that  the  coins  shall  be  gold  and  silver.  It  has  de- 
clared how  many  grains  of  gold  each  gold  coin  shall  contain 
and  how  much  alloy,  and  how  many  grains  of  silver  the  silver 
dollar  shall  contain  and  how  much  alloy.  It  has  prescribed 
certain  words  and  devices  to  be  placed  on  the  coins,  and  it 
has  established  mints  where  alone  the  coins  may  be  struck 
off,  and  declared  that  no  private  person  or  company  shall  make 
any  coins  like  them.  Any  person  from  any  part  of  the  world 
can  take  gold  bullion  to  one  of  these  mints  and  have  it  turned 
into  gold  coins,  and  the  coins  when  handed  back  to  him  are 
lawful  money  of  the  United  States,  and  a  legal  tender  in  the 
payment  of  all  debts.  This  is  called  "free  and  unlimited 
coinage  of  gold."  Formerly  the  owner  of  silver  bullion  could 
in  the  same  way  take  it  to  the  mint  and  have  it  turned  into 
silver  dollars,  but  this  is  no  longer  true.  Now  whatever 
silver  bullion  is  turned  into  silver  coins  is  first  bought  by  the 
Treasury,  and  then  coined  in  such  amounts  as  the  Congress 
may  direct.  But  the  Congress  does  not  authorize  the  Treasury 
to  buy  any  gold  bullion  for  the  purpose  of  having  it  coined. 
It  simply  provides  the  mints  to  which  the  owner  of  the  gold 
can  take  it  and  have  it  coined. 

76.  The  Size,  Parity  and  Ratio  of  Coins.— The  dollar, 
whether  made  of  gold  or  silver,  has  at  all  times  since  the  adop- 
tion of  the  Constitution  been  the  unit  of  value.     But  since 

7 


98  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

1873  the  gold  dollar  has  been  the  "standard  unit  of  value," 
and  on  March  14,  1900,  Congress  by  law  declared  that  "all 
forms  of  money  issued  or  coined  by  the  United  States  shall 
be  maintained  a;t  a  parity  of  value  with  this  standard;"  so 
that  the  United .  States  has  pledged  its  honor  that  all  silver 
dollars  coined  by  it  and  all  paper  money  issued  by  it  shall 
be  worth  exactly  the  same  number  of  gold  dollars,  and  it 
keeps  this  pledge  by  exchanging  at  the  Treasury  gold  coins 
for  silver  dollars  or  the  paper  money  whenever  any  person 
having  the  latter  wishes  to  exchange  them  for  an  equal 
amount  of  the  former ;  and  in  order  to  be  able  to  always  make 
such  exchanges  on  demand  it  keeps  on  hand  in  the  Treasury 
a  fund  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  million  dollars  in  gold  to  be 
used  solely  to  redeem  with  gold  any  silver  dollars  or  paper 
money  coined  or  issued  by  it;  and  if  that  fund  becomes  de- 
pleted and  cannot  be  restored  in  any  other  way,  it  issues 
three-per-cent  United  States  bonds  and  sells  them  for  gold 
and  adds  the  gold  so  obtained  to  this  fund. 

At  the  present  time  the  silver  dollar  contains  371J  grains 
of  pure  silver.  It  has  had  that  number  ever  since  the  passage 
of  the  first  coinage  act  on  April  2,  1792.  Its  size  has  never 
been  changed.  The  gold  dollar  was  first  authorized  to  be 
coined  in  1849  and  its  coinage  was  stopped  in  1890.  It  had 
23.2  grains  of  pure  gold.  And  while  the  gold  dollar  as  such 
has  passed  out  of  use,  the  gold  eagle,  which  contained  ten 
times  as  much  gold,  or  232  grains  of  pure  gold,  is  very  nu- 
merous. 

Standard  metal  is  the  product  after  the  pure  metal  has 
been  mixed  with  copper  or  other  alloy,  which  must  be  added 
in  order  to  make  the  coin  hard  and  unbending.  It  is  from 
the  standard  metal  that  the  coins  are  made.  Each  coin  is 
now  about  nine-tenths  pure  or  "fine,"  and  one-tenth  alloy. 
The  standard  silver  dollar,  therefore,  contains  412|  grains  of 
standard  silver,  and  the  gold  eagle  258  grains  of  standard 
gold. 


POWER  OVER  COINAGE,  WEIGHTS,  MEASURES.  99 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  silver  dollar  contains  almost 
exactly  sixteen  times  as  many  grains  as  the  gold  dollar.  This 
is  what  is  meant  by  the  ratio  of  the  coins  being  16  to  1.  It 
means  that  a  silver  dollar  shall  contain  sixteen  times  as  many 
grains  of  silver  as  there  are  grains  of  gold  in  a  gold  dollar. 
The  ratio  was  by  the  first  coinage  law  made  15  to  1,  the  law 
providing  that  "every  fifteen  pounds  weight  of  pure  silver 
shall  be  of  equal  value,  in  all  payments,  with  one  pound 
weight  of  pure  gold."  This  ratio  was  changed  in  1834  to 
16  to  1,  by  decreasing  the  size  of  the  gold  coin,  the  gold  eagle 
being  reduced  from  247J  to  232  grains  of  pure  gold,  and  such 
has  remained  its  size  ever  since. 

77.  Amount  of  Money. — Gold  and  silver  constitute 
more  than  two-thirds  of  the  entire  volume  of  moneys  of  the 
United  States,  the  gold  alone  amounting  to  over  two  billions 
of  dollars,  and  the  silver  coins  to  about  seven  hundred  million, 
and  all  other  moneys  to  something  over  one  billion  three 
hundred  million.  Prior  to  1872  the  entire  volume  of  gold 
coined  in  the  whole  country  amounted  to  less  than  twenty 
millions,  but  in  late  years  its  volume  has  rapidly  incroased; 
but  its  volume  at  any  one  time  largely  depends  upon  the 
state  and  volume  of  foreign  commerce.  Trade  between 
nations  is  much  like  trade  between  two  merchants  when  the 
time  comes  for  balancing  accounts;  there  will  at  times  be  a 
balance  in  favor  of  one,  and  at  other  times  a  balance  in  favor 
of  the  other,  and  the  one  who  owes  that  balance  must  pay  it. 
The  balance  of  trade  between  nations  is  paid  in  gold;  and  if 
the  value  of  our  exports  largely  exceed  the  value  of  the  im- 
ports there  will  be  a  large  balance  in  our  favor,  and  the  volume 
of  gold  in  this  country  will  largely  increase;  but,  if  imports 
exceed  our  exports  there  will  be  a  balance  against  us,  and  the 
volume  of  our  gold  will  decrease.  Again,  citizens  of  this 
country  may  have  so'd  railroad  and  other  bonds  to  citizens 
of  another  country,  and  the  holders  of  those  bonds  may  re- 
quire payment  when  they  become  due,  and  that  may  cause 


100       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

gold  to  go  abroad.  And  as  the  volume  of  exports  and  im- 
ports, and  the  amount  of  foreign  debts  to  be  paid,  vary  with 
the  years,  so  the  volume  of  gold  in  this  country  varies,  and  is 
not  exactly  the  same  at  any  two  periods.  The  amount  of 
silver,  on  the  contrary,  remains  almost  stationary. 

78.  Gold  Certificates. — Gold  and  silver  coins  have 
always  been  moneys  of  the  United  States.  But  the  coins 
themselves  are  heavy  and  often  inconvenient  to  carry.  To 
overcome  this  inconvenience  and  keep  them  in  constant  use. 
Congress  has  provided  for  gold  certificates  and  silver  cer- 
tificates. Under  the  law  any  person  who  has  as  much  as  $100 
in  gold  coins  can  take  them  to  the  Treasury  of  the  United 
States,  deposit  them  there  and  take  out  an  equal  amount  of 
gold  certificates,  no  more,  no  less.  These  certificates  look 
much  like  greenbacks  except  the  devices  are  printed  in  orange 
instead  of  green  ink.  They  are  simply  receipts  stating  that 
there  has  been  so  much  gold  deposited  in  the  Treasury  for 
their  redemption.  For  instance,  a  $20  gold  certificate  reads: 
"This  is  to  certify  that  there  have  been  deposited  in  the  Treas- 
ury of  the  United  States  twenty  dollars  in  gold  coin  payable 
to  the  bearer  on  demand."  The  gold  when  so  deposited  is  not 
used  to  pay  any  current  expenses  of  the  Government,  but  is 
held  as  a  sacred  fund  for  the  redemption  of  the  certificates 
whenever  presented,  and,  hence,  any  holder  of  the  certifi- 
cates may  present  them  at  the  Treasury  at  any  time  and  get 
an  equal  amount  of  gold  coin,  and  thereupon  the  certificates 
are  destroyed.  The  certificates,  therefore,  in  the  hands  of 
the  people  pass  current  as  so  much  gold.  They  are  more 
portable  and  convenient  than  the  coins,  and  that  is  the  reason 
for  their  existence. 

79.  Silver  Certificates. — For  the  same  reason  the  owner 
of  silver  dollars  can  take  them  to  the  Treasury,  deposit 
them  there,  and  take  out  an  equal  amount  of  silver  cer- 
tificates; in  fact,  there  is  better  reason  for  this  provision 
for  silver  certificates  than  for  the  one  for  gold  certificates, 


r 


POWER  OVER  COINAGE,  WEIGHTS,  MEASURES.        101 


since  silver  coins  in  proportion  to  their  value  are  heavier  and 
bulkier  than  gold  coins,  a  silver  dollar  being  as  heavy  as  six- 
teen dollars  in  gold.  As  a  result,  proportionately  far  more 
silver  certificates  are  in '  circulation  than  gold  ones.  The 
amount  of  silver  certificates  is  about  five-sixths  of  the  entire 
amount  of  silver  dollars  in  existence,  while  the  amount  of  gold 
certificates  is  .about  one-half  the  amount  of  gold  coin.  A 
five-dollar  silver  certificate  reads  this  way:  "This  certifies 
that  there  have  been  deposited  in  the  Treasury  of  the  United 
States  of  America  five  silver  dollars  payable  to  the  bearer 
on  demand." 

80.  Denominations. — ^Silver  certificates  are  In  denom- 
inations of  one,  two,  five  and  ten  dollars,  and  one-tenth  of  the 
whole  amount  in  denominations  of  twenty,  fifty  and  one 
hundred  dollars.  Gold  certificates  are  in  denominations  of 
not  less  than  ten  dollars,  and  at  least  one-fourth  of  the  entire 
amount  in  not  less  than  fifty  dollars,  and  even  a  ten-thousand 
dollar  gold  certificate  payable  to  order  may  be  issued.  Hence, 
the  denominations  of  the  two  kinds  of  certificates  somewhat 
correspond  to  the -relative  weights  of  the  two  kinds  of  coins. 

81.  Subsidiary  Coin. — It  never  has  been  true  in  this 
country  that  the  holder  of  either  silver  or  gold  bullion  could 
have  them  turned  into  coins  of  less  size  than  one  dollar.  No 
gold  coin  of  less  size  than  one  dollar  has  ever  been  coined, 
and  all  silver  coins  of  less  size  than  one  dollar  have  been 
coined  by  the  Government  itself,  that  is,  it  buys  the  silver 
bullion  and  has  it  turned  into  half  dollars,  quarters  and 
dimes.  These  are  called  "subsidiary  silver  coins"  or  "frac- 
tional currency."  They  are  necessary  for  small  business 
transactions  and  to  make  exact  change.  To  aid  them  the 
Government  has  also  provided  a  five-cent  piece  called  a 
"nickel,"  and  one-cent  pieces  made  of  copper.  The  sub- 
sidiary coins  now  amount  to  almost  two  hundred  million 
dollars. 


102       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

82.  Emergency  Moneys. — The  amount  of  gold  and 
silver  actually  coined  has  never  been  sufficient  to  do  the  work 
required  of  a  medium  of  exchange,  and  consequently  at  various 
times  Congress  has  provided  for  temporary  or  emergency 
moneys  to  supplement  these  coins.  These  are  (1)  green- 
backs or  legal  tender  notes,  which  have  already  been  dis- 
cussed in  section  71,  and  (2)  bank  notes. 

83.  National  Bank  Notes. — A  bank  whose  notes  are 
permitted  by  law  to  be  used  as  current  money  is  called  a 
bank  of  issue.  In  all  the  larger  cities,  and  in  many  of  the 
smaller  ones,  there  are  institutions  known  as  national  banks. 
Congress  has  enacted  laws  permitting  private  citizens  to 
organize  a  national  bank  by  investing  their  money  in  its 
capital,  and  by  prescribing  the  kind  of  banking  business  it 
may  engage  in.  The  Government  permits  a  national  bank 
to  invest  a  part  of  its  capital  in  two-per-cent  United  States 
bonds,  and,  by  depositing  these  bonds  in  the  Treasury  as 
security  that  its  notes  will  be  paid,  to  ''issue  and  circulate 
as  money"  an  equal  amount  of  its  notes,  which  are  by  law 
made  receivable  by  the  Government  in  payment  of  all  debts 
due  it  except  duties  on  imports,  and  in  payment  of  all  debts 
owing  by  it  to  individuals  except  interest  on  the  public  debt, 
which  is  payable  in  gold.  Thus  they  are  made  to  pass  cur- 
rent as  money,  although  they  are  not  legal  tender  in  the  pay- 
ment of  a  debt  owing  by  one  private  citizen  to  another,  but 
are  usually  so  tendered  and  received  without  question.  A 
fifty-dollar  national  bank  note  reads  about  this  way:  "The 
Third  National  Bank  of  St.  Louis,  Missouri,  will  pay  to 
bearer  fifty  dollars  on  demand.  This  note  is  secured  by 
bonds  of  the  United  States  deposited  with  the  United  States 
Treasury  at  Washington." 

The  Government  levies  a  small  annual  tax  on  the  amount 
of  notes  issued  by  a  national  bank,  for  the  purpose  of  having 
on  hand  at  all  times  a  fund  which  may  be  immediately  used 
to  redeem  the  notes  of  any  national  bank  that  may  fail;  and 


t 


POWER  OVER  COINAGE,  WEIGHTS,  MEASURES.        103 

if  such  a  bank  fails,  the  Treasury  sells  the  bonds  that  have 
been  deposited  with  it  by  the  bank,  for  gold,  and  replaces 
whatever  part  of  the  fund  it  may  have  used  to  take  up  and 
pay  off  the  notes  of  the  defunct  bank,  and  turns  over  the 
balance,  if  any,  to  the  bank's  officers  to  be  used  in  paying 
its  other  debts. 

Thus,  the  national  bank  notes  are  in  effect  as  valuable 
as  an  equal  amount  of  gold,  since  they  are  upheld  by  an  equal 
amount  of  bonds  deposited  in  the  Treasury,  to  be  held  as  a 
sacred  fund  solely  for  their  redemption.  The  bonds  are 
themselves  payable  in  gold,  and  the  Government  always  pays 
its  debts  in  full,  and  as  the  bonds  are  not  taxable  for  any 
purpose  they  can  always  be  sold  at  par  for  gold. 

83a.  Federal  Reserve  Notes. — For  the  purpose  of  fore- 
stalling financial  panics  and  providing  quick  facilities  for 
loosening  up  industrial  congestion,  Congress  in  1913  enacted 
the  Federal  Reserve  Act.  Under  its  provisions  the  whole 
country  is  divided  into  twelve  convenient  districts,  and  in 
the  chief  commercial  city  in  each  has  been  established  a 
Federal  Reserve  Bank,  which  must  have  a  capital  of  at 
leeist  four  million  dollars.  Each  national  bank  in  the  dis- 
trict must  invest  six  per  cent  of  its  own  capital  in  the 
capital  stock  of  such  bank,  and  thereby  it  becomes  known 
as  a  "member  bank;"  and  private  citizens  to  a  limited  extent 
may  become  stockholders,  and,  if  the  laws  of  their  State  per- 
mit, a  State  bank  or  trust  company  may  also  become  a 
member  bank.  A  Federal  reserve  bank  is  peculiarly  a  bank 
of  issue;  it  does  not  receive  the  money  of  private  citizens 
on  deposit  and  loan  it  out  to  other  private  citizens,  as  do 
other  banks;  its  principal  business  is  to  buy  the  notes  of 
merchants,  farmers,  manufacturers,  stock  dealers,  grain  ele- 
vators, importers  and  other  persons  who  are  carrying  on  the 
commerce  of  the  country,  which  will  be  due  in  three  or  six 
months,  and  pay  for  them  with  its  own  notes,  which  it  is 
authorized    to  issue,  and    which    are    receivable    for    taxes, 


104       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

tariffs  and  all  other  debts  due  the  Government,  and  are  re- 
deemable in  gold  at  the  United  States  Treasury. 

At  certain  seasons  of  the  year  a  large  amount  of  money 
is  needed  to  move  the  cotton,  wheat,  fruits  and  other  crops 
from  the  South  and  West  and  other  agricultural  regions  to 
the  Eastern  cities  and  foreign  countries,  and  to  supply  that 
money  placed  a  heavy  burden  on  the  banks  located  in  the 
regions  where  these  things  are  produced.  Such  money  is 
needed  only  for  short  periods,  usually  only  for  ninety  days, 
and  rarely  as  long  as  six  months;  but  to  obtain  it  the  local 
banks  were  compelled  to  borrow  it  in  the  Eastern  cities  or  it 
was  necessary  for  the  Treasury  to  deposit  the  Government's 
money  in  them.  The  larger  the  crops  the  greater  did  this 
burden  become,  and  hence  the  producers,  because  of  the 
difficulty  in  getting  quickly  the  money  needed  to  move  their 
products  to  the  cities  and  foreign  countries  where  they  are 
consumed,  did  not  obtain  for  them  the  prices  to  which  they 
were  justly  entitled.  At  other  seasons  of  the  year,  when  the 
demands  of  trade  require  the  movement  of  clothing,  agri- 
cultural implements  and  other  products  of  factories  into  the 
agricultural  regions  and  foreign  countries,  large  sums  of  money 
are  needed  for  a  short  time  by  the  owners  of  those  factories, 
importers,  exporters  and  wholesale  merchants  to  facilitate 
the  movement.  Thus  money  at  certain  seasons  of  the  year 
was  drained  out  of  one  part  of  the  country  into  another,  and 
at  other  seasons  flowed  back,  and  banks  were  compelled  either 
to  withhold  from  their  ordinary  customers  money  needed  to 
carry  on  their  regular  business,  or  to  hold  in  reserve  in  their 
vaults  large  amounts  of  money  to  meet  these  extra  trade 
demands  which  lasted  for  only  short  periods,  and  if  they  did 
that  this  extra  reserve  lay  idle  the  rest  of  the  year.  It  was 
to  meet  this  and  other  like  industrial  conditions  that  the 
Federal  reserve  banks  were  established. 

They  can  buy  the  notes  of  the  owners  of  the  products  of 
factory  or  farm,  which  are  to  become  due  in  a  short  time,  by 


r 


POWER  OVER  COINAGE,  WEIGHTS,  MEASURES.        105 


exchanging  their  own  notes  for  them,  and  then  when  these 

■  products  are  sold  and  the  notes  of  the  makers  paid,  an  equal 
amount  of  bank  notes  are  retired  or  destroyed.  Thus  the 
amount  of  such  bank  notes  outstanding  at  any  time  in  a 
district  will  depend  on  the  demands  of  business  in  that  dis- 
trict— in  fact,  upon  the  value  of  the  commodities  for  the 
marketing  of  which  they  have  been  issued.  The  bank  must 
at  all  times  have  either  in  its  vaults  or  in  the  Treasury  a 
sufficient  amount  of  gold  to  pay  all  its  outstanding  notes  as 
fast  as  they  are  presented  for  payment;  and  for  obtaining 
•the  gold  it  can  use  its  capital  to  buy  gold  or  to  buy  and  sell 
gold  bonds  of  the  United  States.  It  can  buy  with  its  notes, 
tfrom  any  member  bank,  notes  secured  by  agricultural  prod- 
ucts or  by  goods,  wares  and  merchandise,  which  have  been 
previously  purchased  by  such  member  bank;  and  thus  the 
Federal  reserve  bank  and  all  the  member  banks  of  the  dis- 
trict constitute  one  great  consolidated  monetary  system  for 
quickening  the  marketing  of  its  surplus  products,  and  thereby 
adding  to  the  gain  to  the  producer  that  should  accrue  to  him 
from  such  products;  and  by  furnishing  the  money  needed  to 
move  crops  and  the  products  of  factories,  the  Federal  reserve 
banks  have  largely  lifted  that  burden  from  other  banks,  and 
made  it  unnecessary  for  national  banks  to  Iceep  in  their  vaults 
so  large  a  per  cent  of  their  capital  as  a  reserve  to  meet  their 
liabilities  in  any  emergency,  and  hence  made  it  possible  for 
them  to  loan  more  of  their  deposits  to  private  citizens. 

The  notes  of  a  Federal  reserve  bank  are  issued  in  denomi- 
nations of  five,  ten,  twenty,  fifty  and  one  hundred  dollars, 
and  a  five-dollar  note  reads:  "Federal  Reserve  Note.  The 
United  States  of  America  will  pay  to  the  bearer  on  demand 
five  dollars.  This  note  is  receivable  by  all  national  and 
member  banks  and  Federal  reserve  banks  for  taxes,  customs 
and  other  public  dues.  It  is  redeemable  in  gold  on  demand 
at  the  Treasury  Department  of  the  United  States  in  the  City 
of  Washington,  District  of  Columbia,  or  in  gold  or  lawful 


106       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

money  at  any  Federal  Reserve  Bank.     The  Federal  Reserve 
Bank  of  Kansas  City,  Missouri." 

The  amount  of  notes  a  reserve  bank  may  issue  is  deter- 
mined by  the  Federal  Reserve  Board,  consisting  of  the  Sec- 
retary and  Comptroller  of  the  Treasury,  and  five  persons  ap- 
pointed by  the  President,  none  of  whom  can  be  a  director  or 
officer  in  any  bank.  The  board  is  a  constant  check  on  all 
reserve  banks,  requires  them  to  comply  rigidly  with  the 
laws  which  prescribe  just  what  kind  of  commercial  paper 
they  may  buy  and  how  they  may  invest  their  capital,  and 
watches  the  business  of  the  country  to  see  what  volume  of 
notes  each  bank  should  issue  in  order  to  meet  its  needs. 

84.  Bills  of  Credit. — The  Constitution  provides  that 
no  State  shall  "emit  bills  of  credit"  or  "make  anything  but 
gold  and  silver  coin  a  tender  in  payment  of  debts."  "Bills 
of  credit,"  as  here  used,  mean  paper  money,  and  "to  emit 
bills  of  credit"  is  to  issue  the  notes  of  the  State  redeemable 
at  some  future  time,  and  cause  them  to  circulate  as  money. 
In  the  days  prior  to  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  every 
State  had  issued  its  notes,  and  provided  that  they  should  be 
received  by  all  State  officers  in  payment  of  their  salaries  and 
by  tax  collectors  in  payment  of  debts  due  the  State.  These 
notes  originated  in  the  inability  of  the  State  to  pay  its  current 
expenses  as  they  rapidly  increased  during  the  Revolutionary 
War.  The  State,  therefore,  attempted  to  run  on  credit,  or  to 
support  itself  by  borrowing  money.  The  notes  were  simply 
promises  to  pay  so  much  money,  and  they  were  made  redeem- 
able in  money  within  a  certain  number  of  years.  As  the  State 
received  them  in  payment  of  taxes  and  compelled  its  officers 
to  receive  them  in  payment  of  their  salaries,  other  people  also 
took  them  from  the  officers  at  their  face  value  so  long  as  they 
believed  the  State  would  be  able  to  pay  or  redeem  them  in 
actual  money,  that  is,  gold  or  silver.  But  as  the  burdens  of 
the  war  became  heavier  and  the  amount  of  these  notes  in- 
creased, and  the  State  showed  no  ability  to  redeem  them, 


I 


POWER  OVER  COINAGE,  WEIGHTS,  MEASURES.        107 

they  became  worth  less  than  par,  and  in  some  cases  not  more 
than  fifteen  per  cent  of  their  face  value.  Then  the  State, 
apparently  in  an  effort  at  self-preservation,  took  another  very 
important  step,  just  as  our  Congress  afterwards  did  in  regard 
to  the  greenbacks:  it  made  its  notes  legal  tender  in  the  pay- 
ment of  all  private  debts,  and  thus  attempted  to  force  them 
into  circulation  as  money,  with  an  increased  value. 

The  Constitution  took  away  from  the  States  the  power 
not  only  to  issue  paper  money,  but  also  to  make  anything  ex- 
cept gold  and  silver  coin  a  tender  in  payment  of  debts.  A 
State  cannot  compel  a  private  citizen  to  accept  greenbacks 
in  payment  of  debts  owing  him,  but  it  has  been  held  by  the 
Supreme  Court  that  Congress  may  do  so.  If  Congress  had 
no  law  on  the  subject,  the  State  could  not  compel  the  holder 
of  your  note  to  accept  in  payment  anything  except  gold  or 
silver  coin,  unless  the  note  itself  contracted  that  it  might  be 
paid  in  something  else;  but  if  the  contract  provided  that  it 
should  be  paid  in  something  else  (for  instance,  100  bushels  of 
wheat)  the  State  could  compel  the  holder  to  accept  that  other 
thing,  or  gold  and  silver  coin,  in  payment.  But  Congress  has 
provided  that  private  debts  may  be  paid  in  any  lawful  money, 
and  it  has  made  greenbacks  and  gold  and  (when  not  other- 
wise provided  in  the  contract)  silver  dollars,  lawful  money. 

But  the  provision  prohibiting  a  State  from  emitting  bills 
of  credit  does  not  mean  that  the  State  cannot  issue  its  notes 
or  bonds  to  be  sold  for  money.  It  can  borrow  money  whenever 
it  wishes,  and  it  can  settle  its  debts  with  those  it  owes  by  issu- 
ing its  notes  to  them  in  payment,  if  they  are  willing  to  accept 
them,  but  it  cannot  compel  them  to  receive  them,  nor  can 
it  make  the  notes  circulate  as  money. 

85.  Counterfeiting. — ^As  a  necessary  incident  of  the 
power  of  Congress  to  coin  money,  it  is  also  given  the  power 
"to  provide  for  the  punishment  of  counterfeiting  the  securi- 
ties and  current  coins  of  the  United  States."  Counterfeiting 
is  the  making  or  uttering  of  spurious  or  imitation  money. 


108       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

bank  notes  or  notes  or  bonds  of  the  United  States.  Some- 
times dishonest  and  thieving  persons  try  to  make  silver  or 
gold  coins  out  of  some  cheap  or  spurious  metal  so  nearly  like 
the  genuine  coins  that  ordinary  persons  will  not  readily  detect 
their  false  character.  This  is  counterfeiting,  as  is  also  an 
attempt  to  pass  such  counterfeits,  and  as  is  the  making  by 
private  persons  of  greenbacks  or  other  notes  or  bonds  pur- 
porting to  be  issued  by  the  Government  or  banks  of  issue, 
and  as  is  the  passing  or  selling  of  such  imitation  money. 


Volume  of  Money. — The  amount  of  money  in  the  United  States  on  Feb 
ruary  1,  1916,  as  shown  by  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  was 
as  follows: 

Gold  coin  (including  bullion  in  the  Treas- 
ury)       $2,328,421,835 

Standard  silver  dollars 568 ,  271 ,  655 

Subsidiary  silver 189 ,  099 ,  208 


Total  metallic  moneys $3 ,085 ,  792 , 

United  States  notes  (greenbacks) $346,681 ,016 

National  Bank  notes 766,392 ,068 

Federal  Reserve  notes 219 ,  370 ,  000 


Total  of  paper  moneys 1 ,  332 ,  443 ,  084 


Total  moneys  of  all  kinds $4,418,235,782 


Total  moneys  in  circulation $3 ,  933 ,  678 ,  877 

Total  moneys  in  Treasury 277 ,  853 ,  117 

Gold  held  by  Federal  Reserve  banks  against  notes 206 ,  703 ,  788 


Total  moneys  in  circulation  and  held  in  reserve $4,418, 235 ,  782 


Gold  certificates $1 ,  517 ,  533 ,  186 

Silver  certificates .- 480,719,356 


Questions  on  Chapter  IX. 

1.  Repeat  the  two  clauses  of  the  Constitution  relating  to  money. 

(73) 

2.  Can  a  State  make  anything  but  gold  and  silver  coin  a  legal 

tender?     (73)     What  is  said  about  the  attempt  of  Congress 
to  do  so?     (73) 

3.  How  are  Government  and  bank  notes  made  as  good  as  gold? 

(73) 

4.  Is  the  power  of  Congress  to  coin  money  exclusive?     (73a) 


POWER  OVER  COINAGE,  WEIGHTS.  MEASURES.        109 

5.  What  is  meant  by  that?     (73a) 

6.  Can  a  State  fix  the  standard  of  weights  and  measures?     (73a) 

7.  Can  it  do  so  after  Congress  has  enacted  a  law  on  the  subject? 

(73a) 

8.  Discuss  the  difference  between  an  exclusive  power  and  a  mere 

grant  of  power  as  illustrated  by  the  coinage  of  money  and 
weights  and  measures.     (73a) 

9.  Why  is  the  power  to  coin  money  placed  in  Congress?     (74) 

10.  What  is  money?     What  is  coin?     (74) 

11.  The  effect  of  a  variable  shilling  in  the  Colonial  days?     (74) 

12.  What  two  reasons,  then,  for  the  exercise  by  the  national  Govern- 

ment of  the  power  to  coin  money?     (74) 

13.  Discuss  the  decimal  or  monetary  table.     (74a) 

14.  What  is  the  unit  of  value?     (74a) 

15.  What  are  the  gold  and  silver  coins?     (74a) 

16.  What  provisions  for  coinage  has  Congress  made?     (75) 

17.  What  is  said  concerniag  the  free    coinage    of    gold    and    silver? 

(75) 

18.  What  is  the  standard  unit  of  value?     (76) 

19.  How  are  all  moneys  kept  at  a  parity  with  gold?     (76) 

20.  How  many  grains  in  the  silver  and  gold  dollars?     (76) 

21.  What  is  standard  metal,  and  the  sizes  of  the  coins?     (76) 

22.  Discuss  the  ratio  of  the  gold  and  silver  coins.     (76) 

23.  What  is  the  volume  of  gold  and  silver  coins?     (77) 

24.  Upon  what  does  the  volume  of  gold  largely  depend?     (77) 

25.  Discuss  that,  and  tell  why  it  is  true?     (77) 

26.  Discuss  gold  certificates  (78)  and  silver  certificates  (79). 

27.  What  are  the  denominations  of  these  certificates?     (80) 

28.  What  is  said  of  subsidiary  coins?     (81) 

29.  Why  has  Congress  authorized  emergency  money?     (82) 

30.  What  two  kinds  of  emergency  money?     (82) 

31.  Discuss  national  bank  notes.     (83) 

32.  How  are  they  made  as  good  as  gold?     (83) 

33.  Read  very  carefully  what  is  said  concerning  Federal  reserve 

banks,  and  then  state  in  what  way  they  aid  commerce  and 
other  banks.     (83a) 

34.  What  does  the  Constitution  say  about  bills  of  credit?     (84) 

35.  Give  the  history  of  bills  of  credit  in  the  States  prior  to  the 

adoption  of  the  Constitution.     (84) 

36.  What  power  have  the  States  as  to  issuing  paper  money  and 

declaring  in  what  things  debts  may  be  paid?     (84) 

37.  Can  a  State  still  issue  notes  or  bonds?     (84) 

38.  What  is  counterfeiting?     (85) 


110       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

CHAPTER  X. 

NATURALIZATION  AND  BANKRUPTCIES. 

86.  Congress  is  also  given  power  "to  establish  an 
uniform  rule  of  naturalization  and  uniform  laws  on  the  sub- 
ject of  bankruptcies  throughout  the  United  States." 

87.  Naturalization  is  the  act  by  which  the  rights  and 
privileges  of  citizenship  are  conferred  on  persons  born  in 
other  countries.  When  such  a  person  is  naturalized  he  be- 
comes a  citizen  of  the  United  States  and  of  the  State  in  which 
he  resides.  The  laws  under  which  he  is  naturalized  were 
enacted  by  Congress,  and  are  the  same  for  all  the  States,  and 
hence  they  constitute  the  "uniform  rule." 

Under  them  a  foreigner,  if  "a  free  white  person  or  an 
alien  of  African  nativity  or  a  person  of  African  descent," 
ma}^  make  application,  signed  in  his  own  handwriting,  to 
the  clerk  of  any  circuit  court  of  any  State  or  of  any  district 
court  of  the  United  States,  declaring  it  is  his  intention  in 
good  faith  to  become  a  citizen  of  the  United  States;  and  two 
*  years  thereafter  he  may  be  admitted  to  citizenship  by  any 
of  those  courts  if  at  that  time  he  is  (1)  able  to  speak  the 
English  language,  is  (2)  not  a  polygamist  or  (3)  an  anarchist 
or  opposed  to  organized  government,  and  (4)  has  continuously 
been  a  resident  of  the  United  States  for  five  years  and  for  at 
least  one  year  of  the  State  in  which  the  court  is  held.  His 
residence  during  that  time  must  be  proved  by  the  oath  of 
other  persons  who  are  citizens,  and  he  must  himself  under 
oath  renounce  forever  all  allegiance  to  every  other  sovereign, 
and  especially  to  the  country  from  which  he  came,  and  pledge 
himself  true  allegiance  to  bear  to  the  United  States.  If  he 
meets  these  conditions,  and  a  few  others  of  less  importance, 
he  is  admitted   to   citizenship,   and   thereafter  has  all   the 


NATURALIZATION  AND  BANKRUPTCIES.  Ill 

privileges  and  protection  that  the  law  extends  to  other  citi- 
zens, and  his  wife  and  children  who  are  at  the  time  under  the 
age  of  twenty-one  years,  if  at  the  time  of  his  naturalization 
they  are  dwelling  in  the  United  States,  also  by  his  naturaliza- 
tion become  citizens. 

88.  Intention  and  Perfection. — The  application  to  be- 
come a  citizen  is  popularly  described  as  "taking  out  the  first 
papers."  In  the  law  it  is  denominated  the  applicant's 
"declaration  of  intention."  It  does  not  admit  him  to  citi- 
zenship. He  must  wait  for  at  least  two  years  before  he  can 
be  naturalized,  and  may  wait  for  seven  years,  and  in  no  event 
can  he  be  naturalized  until  he  has  resided  five  years  in  this 
country.  If  after  he  has  filed  his  declaration  of  intention 
he  dies  before  he  has  been  admitted  to  citizenship,  his  widow 
and  minor  children  may  be  naturalized  without  filing  any 
further  declaration.  He  may  make  his  application  at  any 
time  after  he  is  eighteen  years  of  age.  He  may  make  his 
application  in  one  State,  and  be  finally  naturalized  in  another. 
And  at  the  time  of  his  naturalization  the  court,  upon  his 
request,  may  change  his  name.  No  person  can  be  naturalized 
until  after  his  petition  for  naturalization  has  remained  on 
file  with  the  court  for  ninety  days,  nor  can  he  be  naturalized 
within  thirty  days  preceding  any  general  election. 

89.  Who  May  Become  Citizens. — The  law  of  Con- 
gress is  that  "aliens  being  free  white  persons  and  aliens  of 
African  nativity  and  persons  of  African  descent"  may  be  nat- 
uralized. The  Fourteenth  Amendment  to  the  Constitution 
says  that  "all  persons  born  or  naturalized  in  the  United 
States  and  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  thereof,  are  citizens  of 
the  United  States  and  of  the  State  wherein  they  reside."  These 
two  provisions  fix  the  limits  of  citizenship.  No  Chinaman, 
no  Japanese,  nor  other  Mongolian,  unless  born  in  Africa,  can 
he  naturalized,  because  he  is  neither  a  free  white  person  nor 
of  African  nativity.  Free  white  persons,  whether  born  in 
Europe,  Asia,  Africa,  South  America  or  elsewhere,  may  be 


112       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

naturalized.  Persons  of  African  nativity  or  of  African  descent 
may  be  also,  whether  they  came  to  us  directly  from  Africa  or 
from  the  isles  of  the  sea  or  Canada  or  elsewhere.  But  the 
yellow  or  copper-colored  peoples  are  not  permitted  to  become 
naturalized;  only  free  white  persons,  and  persons  who  were 
born  or  whose  ancestors  were  born  in  Africa.  This  provision 
in  practice  confines  naturalization  to  aliens  belonging  to  the 
white  and  black  races,  and  shuts  out  those  belonging  to  the 
yellow  or  copper-colored  races  of  Asia  and  Australia  and  else- 
where except  Africa.  But  all  persons  born  in  the  United 
States  except  uncivilized  Indians  are  citizens  without  naturali- 
zation. Indians  of  Oklahoma  are  citizens,  but  most  other 
Indians,  though  born  here,  are  not  citizens,  because  they 
seem  incapable  of  adopting  the  pursuits  of  civilized  life,  and 
are  the  "wards  of  the  nation,"  in  that  the  Government  pro- 
vides them  with  food  and  clothes,  and  they  are  therefore 
permitted  to  have  their  own  tribal  governments,  and  in  most 
things  are  not  "subject  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United 
States."  But  Chinese  and  Japanese  and  Mexican  children 
born  in  this  country,  whether  their  parents  were  naturalized 
or  not,  are  citizens,  if  such  parents  were  permanent  residents 
here.  And  persons  actually  born  outside  the  limits  of  the 
United  States  are  considered  to  have  been  "born  in  the 
United  States"  if  their  parents  were  American  citizens  at  the 
time  of  their  birth  and  temporarily  residing  abroad. 

90.  Citizens  and  Voters. — It  is  necessary  to  distinguish 
between  citizens  and  voters.  The  Constitution  and  the  Con- 
gress of  the  United  States  declare  who  are  citizens,  but 
the  States  say  what  citizens  may  vote.  Voting  is  not  a 
natural  right;  it  is  a  privilege  granted  by  government.  No 
man  has  a  right  to  vote  simply  because  he  is  a  man,  nor 
simply  because  he  is  a  citizen;  one  has  that  privilege  simply 
because  the  government  says  he  shall  have  it.  The  wives  of 
naturalized  or  native  men  are  citizens,  but  in  most  States 
they  are  not  voters.     Minor  children  born  in  the  United 


r 


NATURALIZATION  AND  BANKRUPTCIES.  113 


States  and  minor  children  of  naturalized  persons  born  else- 
where, are  citizens,  but  they  are  not  voters.  And  in  some 
States  men  over  twenty-one  years  of  age,  whether  naturalized 
or  natives,  are  not  permitted  to  vote,  because  they  cannot 
read,  or  have  not  paid  taxes,  or  have  been  convicted  of  crime. 

And  in  some  States  "every  male  person  of  foreign  birth 
who  may  have  declared  his  intention  to  become  a  citizen, 
not  less  than  one  year  nor  more  than  five  years  before  he 
offers  to  vote,  if  twenty-one  years  of  age,"  may  vote  without 
waiting  until  his  naturalization  has  been  perfected.  This 
strange  provision,  which  is  a  part  of  the  Constitution  of 
Missouri  and  of  some  other  States,  permits  persons  to  vote 
for  four  years  who  are  not  citizens,  and  who  may  never  be- 
come citizens,  for  all  it  requires  is  that  the  foreign-born  man 
shall  have  resided  in  the  State  one  year  and  one  year  before 
the  election  shall  have  taken  out  his  first  papers,  and  if  he 
has  done  that  he  can  vote,  not  only  at  that  election,  but  at 
each  subsequent  election  for  the  next  four  years.  After  that 
he  must  perfect  his  declared  intention  to  become  a  citizen 
or  cease  to  vote  until  he  does  so.  But  he  is  not  compelled 
to  perfect  that  intention;  he  may  reside  in  this  country  the 
rest  of  his  life  without  becoming  a  citizen,  for  until  his 
naturalization  is  completed  he  is  not  a  citizen. 

But  let  no  one  despise  his  citizenship  because  he  cannot 
vote.  The  right  to  vote  is  not  the  greatest  benefit  of  citizen- 
ship; it  would  amount  to  nothing  if,  in  spite  of  its  exercise, 
the  government  were  unjust  and  weak  and  tyrannical;  it  is 
only  a  means  for  holding  the  government  in  lines  of  justice 
and  strength,  and  for  placing  competent,  just  and  upright 
persons  in  public  office  and  for  helping  the  nation  to  be  serv- 
iceable to  mankind;  and  while  it  is  the  most  direct  and 
satisfactory  way  for  accomplishing  those  beneficent  results, 
it  is  not  the  only  means.  A  great  benefit  of  citizenship  is 
that  the  citizen,  whether  he  can  vote  or  not,  can  invoke  the 
powers  of  this  Government  for  his  protection  anywhere  in  the 

c.  G.— 8 


114       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

world.  Its  primary  value,  perhaps  its  chief  value,  is  that  it 
guarantees  to  him  unmolested  liberty,  the  enjoyment  of  his 
property,  and  the  right  to  engage  in  gainful  occupations.  He 
may  not  have  been  given  the  privilege  of  voting,  but  he  can 
live  in  peace,  his  person  may  not  be  violated,  he  can  freely 
write,  freely  speak,  and  freely  worship;  he  can  work  and  enjoy 
what  he  produces,  he  can  own  land  and  has  the  same  property 
rights  and  other  civil  rights  as  does  the  citizen  who  votes. 
To  be  a  citizen  of  a  just  government  which  is  strong  and  wise 
enough  to  guarantee  to  all  her  citizens  their  Heaven-born 
rights  to  life,  liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness,  is  of  itself 
a  great  boon;  and  the  principal  reason  that  citizens  should 
have  the  privilege  of  voting  is  that  they  may  so  shape  the 
government  that  it  will  unmistakably  guarantee  those  rights 
to  all  of  them  alike. 

But  while  all  these  things  are  true  it  should  be  remembered 
that  the  Government,  both  state  and  national,  belongs  to  all 
its  citizens  alike,  and  hence  it  should  not  deny  the  privilege 
of  voting  to  any  class  of  citizens  who  desire  it  and  will  use  it 
intelligently  and  honestly,  for  otherwise  it  may  be  unfair, 
and  deny  to  them  equality  of  right  and  opportunity. 

90a.  Immigration. — For  a  long  time  after  the  adoption 
of  the  Constitution  America  was  spoken  of  as  "the  home  of 
the  brave  and  the  land  of  the  free;"  and  all  persons,  especially 
those  who  were  fleeing  from  the  tyranny  and  political  op- 
pressions of  the  nations  of  Europe,  were  welcomed  to  make 
their  homes  here,  with  few  restrictions  upon  their  coming. 
But  in  late  years  many  of  the  immigrants  have  not  been 
political  refugees  attracted  hither  by  American  liberty,  but 
lawless  persons  who  sought  new  fields  for  continuing  their 
criminal  careers.  Anarchists,  who  hate  all  government  and 
bind  themselves  by  secret  oaths  to  destroy  it,  have  come, 
ignorant  paupers,  beggars,  persons  afflicted  with  dangerous 
contagious  diseases,  and  adventurers  bent  on  cheating  and 
defrauding,  have  been  brought  or  sent  here,  or  came  of  their 


NATURALIZATION  AND  BANKRUPTCIES.  115 

^n  choice.  They  came  in  such  large  numbers  that  the 
peace  and  safety  of  our  own  citizens  began  to  be  endangered, 
and  to  stop  them  Congress  has  enacted  rigid  immigration 
laws,  and  sought  through  them  to  put  a  stop  to  the  coming 
of  all  undesirable  persons.  They  absolutely  prohibit  alien 
criminals,  anarchists,  paupers,  beggars,  persons  having  any 
dangerous  contagious  disease,  persons  coming  under  a  con- 
tract to  engage  in  certain  employments  after  their  arrival, 
and  Chinese  laborers,  to  enter  the  United  States;  and  upon 
all  immigrants  permitted  to  enter  they  fix  a  ''head  tax"  of 
about  four  dollars  each,  to  create  a  fund  out  of  which  are 
paid  the  expenses  of  preventing  those  not  entitled  to  enter 
and  of  deporting  those  who  have  wrongfully  gained  entrance. 
The  trend  of  modern  legislation  is  to  permit  no  immigrant 
to  enter  the  United  States  who  cannot  read  in  some  language ; 
but  to  apply  such  a  rule  to  all  foreigners  alike  would  be  to 
exclude  some  persons  who  flee  to  us  to  escape  political  and 
religious  persecutions  abroad — persons  who  in  their  own  land 
have  been  denied  education  and  religious  freedom  by  a 
tyrannical  government  and  whose  only  offense  has  been  to 
resist  oppression  and  to  cry  out  for  liberty  and  equality  of 
right  and  opportunity — persons  to  whom  it  has  always  been 
the  pride  of  our  people  to  extend  a  welcoming  hand.  It  is 
not  the  policy  of  the  Government  to  deny  them  immigration. 
So  that  while  the  laws  exclude  most  immigrants  who  cannot 
read,  they  usually  contain  exceptions  that  permit  persons  to 
come  who  are  fleeing  from  political  persecutions,  though  they 
can  read  in  no  language.  Besides,  naturalized  citizens  may 
send  for  and  bring  to  this  country  their  aged  parents  and 
minor  brothers  and  sisters  who  cannot  read,  and  usually  an 
immigrant  who  can  read  is  permitted  to  bring  with  him  his 
wife  and  minor  children  w^ho  cannot.  In  other  words,  while 
the  immigration  laws  prescribe  an  illiteracy  test,  it  is  so 
modified  as  not  to  work  oppression  or  cruelty. 


116       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

91.  Bankruptcies. — ^A  bankrupt  is  an  insolvent  debtor, 
or  one  about  to  fail  in  business  because  of  an  inability  to  pay 
his  debts.  The  purpose  of  a  bankrupt  law  is  to  enable  him 
to  be  discharged  from  his  debts  by  turning  over  to  the  court 
all  his  property  to  be  divided  ratably  among  those  he  owes. 
The  principle  behind  such  a  law  is  (1)  that  if  a  debtor  owes 
a  number  of  debts,  all  equally  just,  and  cannot  pay  all,  it  is 
not  right  that  all  his  property  be  seized  to  pay  the  debt  of 
one  or  two,  but  that  all  should  have  a  ratable  share  in  his 
property;  and  (2)  having  failed,  and  having  surrendered  all 
his  available  property  to  pay  his  debts,  he  should  be  permitted 
to  begin  over  again  unburdened  by  his  past  debts.  Such  a 
law,  therefore,  permits  him  to  go  into  court  and  make  an 
exhibit  of  the  property  he  owns  that  can  be  used  for  paying 
his  debts,  and  ask  the  court  to  turn  it  into  money  and  divide 
up  the  proceeds  among  all  his  creditors,  giving  to  each  his 
proportionate  share,  and,  that  having  been  done,  that  he  be 
discharged  from  any  further  payment  of  such  debts,  and  be 
permitted  to  start  anew,  with  all  his  prior  debts  cancelled. 

92.  Kinds. — There  are  two  classes  of  bankrupts,  volun- 
tary and  involuntary.  The  voluntary  bankrupt  is  any 
debtor  who  of  his  own  motion  goes  into  court  and  prays  to 
be  discharged  from  the  payment  of  his  debts.  If  he  shows 
himself  hopelessly  in  debt,  the  court  will  grant  his  prayer, 
however  small  his  debts  or  whatever  may  be  his  business. 
The  involuntary  bankrupt  is  the  debtor  whose  creditors 
force  him  into  bankruptcy.  "Any  natural  person,  except  a 
wage-earner  or  a  person  engaged  chiefly  in  farming  or  the 
tillage  of  the  soil,  or  any  partnership,  or  any  corporation,  en- 
gaged principally  in  manufacturing,  trading,  printing,  pub- 
lishing or  mercantile  pursuits,  owing  debts  to  the  amount  of 
one  thousand  dollars  or  over,  may  be  adjudged  an  involuntary 
bankrupt,"  upon  a  showing  that  he  has  concealed  or  disposed 
of  his  goods  in  a  way  to  delay  or  hinder  or  defraud  his  creditors. 


NATURALIZATION  AND  BANKRUPTCIES.  117 

93.  How  Far  Applicable. — Whether  the  procedure  be 
voluntary  or  involuntary,  the  law  does  not  allow  the  bank- 
rupt's homestead  to  be  sold  to  pay  his  debts,  nor  his  other 
property  which  by  State  laws  is  exempt  from  the  sheriff's 

•  levy.  But  there  are  certain  debts  which  the  law  does  not 
relieve  the  bankrupt  from  paying.  He  cannot  be  discharged 
from  paying  a  debt  which  originated  in  fraud,  nor  one  due  by 
him  as  administrator  to  the  heirs  of  a  deceased  person,  nor 
one  due  by  him  for  taxes,  nor  one  due  by  him  for  money 
placed  in  his  hands  to  be  held  by  him  as  trustee  for  the  use 
and  benefit  of  others,  but  which  he  has  lost  or  squandered. 
For  all  these  debts  he  remains  liable  until  they  are  paid;  to 
permit  him  to  cancel  them  would  be  to  encourage  him  by 
law  to  be  dishonest. 

94.  History  of  Bankrupt  Laws  and  Necessity  For. — 
The  power  given  to  Congress  ''to  establish  uniform  laws  on 
the  subject  of  bankruptcy  throughout  the  United  States"  is 
one  which  Congress  has  rarely  exercised.  The  first  law  on 
the  subject  was  passed  in  1800  and  repealed  three  years  later; 
the  next  in  1841,  and  repealed  within  eighteen  months;  the 
next,  passed  in  1867,  had  a  little  longer  life  than  its  prede- 
cessors, for  it  was  not  repealed  for  eleven  years;  the  next 
came  in  1898,  and  is  still  in  force.  The  first  three  were  un- 
popular, and  for  three  reasons:  first,  there  was  a  general  be- 
lief, grounded  upon  experience,  that  they  were  a  mere  sponge 
to  wipe  out  indebtedness,  not  only  of  honest  debtors,  but  of 
dishonest  ones  as  well;  and  that  instead  of  proving  of  real 
value  to  creditors,  they  encouraged  the  contracting  of  debts 
and  lessened  the  dread  of  debt;  second,  the  waste  and  expense 
of  proceedings  in  bankruptcies,  the  fees  of  the  commissioners 
and  other  officers  absorbing  much  of  the  fund;  third,  the 
confusion  and  litigation  resulting  from  a  conflict  of  such  laws 
with  State  laws  on  the  same  subject.  But  the  law  of  1898 
has  so  far  worked  with  more  satisfaction.  Under  it  the 
proceeding  is  speedier  than  under  the  former  ones,  nor  is  it 


118       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

so  expensive  and  wasteful.  Besides,  the  necessity  for  such  a 
law  is  now  more  apparent  than  formerly.  Railroads  have 
brought  business  communities  close  to  each  other;  trading 
between  citizens  of  different  States  is  constantly  increasing. 
"Uniform  laws  on  the  subject"  are,  therefore,  made  more  and 
more  necessary  for  easy-working  business.  But  it  should 
also  be  remembered  that  Congress  has  performed  its  full  duty 
in  the  matter  when  its  laws  result  in  such  uniformity.  It 
should  exercise  this  power  only  when  it  is  clearly  necessary 
for  peaceful  and  prosperous  commerce  among  the  States. 
Unless  the  laws  of  the  various  States  are  in  hopeless  and  hurt- 
ful confusion,  there  is  no  necessity  for  Congress  ''to  establish 
uniform  laws  on  the  subject  of  bankruptcies." 

Questions  on  Chapter  X. 

1.  What  does  the  Constitution  say  -of  naturalization  and  bank- 

ruptcies?    (86) 

2.  What  is  naturalization?     (87) 

3.  By  whom  were  naturalization  laws  enacted?     (87) 

4.  Who  may  be  naturalized?     (87) 

5.  How?     (87) 

6.  What  must  he  renounce  and  pledge?     (87) 

7.  What  does  he  gain  by  being  naturalized?     (87) 

8.  By  his  naturalization  do  his  wife  and  children  become  citizens? 

(87) 

9.  How  is  the  application  usually  described?     (88) 

10.  Does  it  admit  the  applicant  to  citizenship?     (88) 

11.  When  may  he  become  a  citizen?     (88) 

12.  What  is  said  about  the  place  of  naturalization?     (88) 

13.  The  change  of  the  applicant's  name?     (88) 

14.  Can  you  give  a  reason  for  requiring  him  to  keep  his  petition  on 

file  for  ninety  days?     And  why  should  he  not  be  naturalized 
within  30  days  preceding  an  election? 

15.  What  two  provisions  fix  the  limits  of  citizenship?     (89) 

16.  What  persons  may  and  what  may  not  be  naturalized?     (89) 

17.  What  persons  born  in  the  United  States  are  citizens?     (89) 

18.  Distinguish  between  citizens  and  voters?     (90) 

19.  Are  the  laws  as  to  the  right  to  vote  uniform?     (90)     Why? 

(90) 


I 


THE  POST  OFFICE.  119 

20.  Discuss  a  strange  provision  in  Missouri  Constitution.     (90) 

21.  What  may  a  citizen  do,  and  what  rights  claim,  though  not  a 

voter?     (90) 

22.  Do  you  think  anyone  should  be  given  the  right  to  vote  who 

cannot  or  will  not  intelligently  and  honestly  vote? 

23.  Who  were  formerly  permitted  to  immigrate  to  America?     (90a) 

24.  Why  was  it  necessary  to  restrict  these  privileges?     (90a) 

25.  Whom  do  the  laws  now  exclude?     (90a) 

26.  What  is  a  head  tax?     (90a) 

27.  What  is  the  trend  of  legislation  as  to  illiteracy?     (90a) 

28.  Are  there  exceptions?     (90a) 

29.  What  is  a  bankrupt?     (91) 

30.  What  is  the  purpose  of  bankrupt  laws?     (91) 

31.  What  is  the  principle  behind  such  laws?     (91) 

32.  What  does  such  a  law  permit  the  bankrupt  to  do?     (91) 

33.  Discuss  a  voluntary  and  an  involuntary  bankrupt?     (92) 

34.  Can  the  homestead  and  other  exemptions  be  sold  to  pay  the 

bankrupt's  debts?     (93) 

35.  Read  the  history  of  bankrupt  laws.     (94)  ^ 


CHAPTER  XI. 

THE  POST  OFFICE. 

95.  Postal  Department. — The  Constitution  gives  Con- 
gress power  "to  establish  post  offices  and  post- roads."  The 
exercise  of  this  power  has  been  one  of  the  strong  forces  in 
unifying  and  assimilating  the  American  people.  A  uniform 
system  of  speedily  carrying  letters,  papers,  magazines,  books 
and  other  small  articles  to  every  part  of  our  country  and  to 
foreign  lands,  at  small  cost,  has  been  patiently  worked  out, 
and  as  a  result  of  this  means  for  the  general  diffusion  of  in- 
telligence, not  only  has  commerce  and  every  kind  of  industry 
been  quickened  and  facilitated,  but  the  printing  of  news- 
papers, magazines  and  books  has  become  profitable  and  a 
reading  habit  encouraged,  so  that  the  people  have  come 
more  and  more  to  know  and  understand  each  other,  to  have 
their  sectional  prejudices  dissipated,  to  take  a  more  intelli- 
gent and  brotherly  interest  in  each  other's  welfare,  and  to 


120       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

become  more  and  more  alike  in  their  social  customs  and  in 
their  religious  and  political  views.  So  we  may  say  that  the 
postal  system  has  been  a  powerful  agency  in  solidifying  the 
American  people  into  a  homogeneous  and  enlightened  nation. 

96.  Post  Routes. — Under  this  clause  of  the  Constitution 
the  Government  could  build  post-roads  of  its  own  and  hold 
them  for  its  exclusive  use;  but  it  has  rarely  undertaken  to  do 
that,  and  for  two  reasons:  First,  it  has  generally  been  ad- 
mitted, from  the  time  the  Constitution  was  framed,  that  it 
was  not  intended  by  this  clause  to  give  Congress  power  to 
build  post-roads  at  will,  but  only  such  as  an  efficient  postal 
system  clearly  requires.  Second,  the  public  roads  established 
under  State  law,  and  the  railroads  and  boat  and  ship  lines 
owned  by  private  persons,  afford  sufficient  ways,  at  much 
less  expense,  of  supplying  every  community  with  mails,  and 
therefore  post-roads  built  and  owned  by  the  Government  are 
unnecessary.  Mails  can  be  carried  on  trains,  boats  and 
hacks  that  carry  passengers.  It  would  be  very  expensive 
for  the  Government  to  build  and  own  railroads  and  boats  and 
rock  roads  for  the  sole  purpose  of  carrying  the  mails,  and  if 
it  undertook  to  lessen  the  expense  by  carrying  passengers 
and  commodities  it  would  thereby  enter  into  competition 
with  private  citizens  engaged  in  a  like  business — a  thing  it 
is  generally  agreed  a  popular  government  cannot  justly  do. 
The  Congress  has,  therefore,  by  a  general  law,  declared  that 
all  railroads,  all  navigable  rivers  and  other  waters  of  the  United 
States,  all  canals,  all  pike  and  toll  roads  and  all  public  roads, 
are  post-roads,  and  then  authorized  the  Postmaster-General, 
who  is  the  chief  officer  of  the  Postal  Department,  "to  establish 
post  offices  at  all  such  places  on  post-roads  as  he  shall  deem 
expedient,"  and  to  contract  for  the  carrying  of  the  mails 
along  such  post-roads.  He  contracts  with  railroads,  steam- 
boats and  ships,  and  the  owners  of  hacks  and  horses,  to  carry 
the  mails  at  regular  intervals,  each  day  or  each  week.  The 
Government  furnishes  bags  and  pouches  in  which  the  mails 


I 


THE  POST  OFFICE.  121 

are  carried,  and  charges  all  senders  of  mail  the  same  rates  for 
carrying  their  letters  and  packages.  It  appoints  a  postmaster 
for  each  post  office,  and  furnishes  him  as  many  assistants  as 
he  needs  for  collecting,  forwarding  and  delivering  the  mails, 
and  pays  him  and  them  for  their  services.  In  the  larger 
cities,  and  more  and  more  in  the  smaller  ones,  it  builds  and 
owns  its  own  post  offices,  but  in  other  places  it  rents  private 
buildings  for  offices. 

In  late  years.  Congress  is  being  urged  to  assist  in  building 
permanent  roads  along  which  the  mails  are  carried.  Public 
roads  are  public  highways,  owned  by  no  one,  but  established 
for  the  use  of  the  public,  and  on  which  every  one,  including 
a  mail  carrier,  has  a  right  to  travel.  The  Government  cannot 
rent  them,  neither  can  any  other  person,  yet  it  uses  many 
of  them  in  carrying  the  mails,  and  they  can  be  carried  more 
swiftly,  cheaply  and  frequently  if  the  roads  are  smooth,  solid 
and  permanent.  To  construct  such  roads  costs  much  money, 
and  there  is  a  growing  sentiment  that  the  costs  of  their  con- 
struction should  be  borne  in  part  by  the  Government.  The 
Congress  has  power,  if  it  desires,  to  appropriate  money  to  such 
a  purpose,  for  the  power  given  it  by  the  Constitution  "to  es- 
tablish post  offices  and  post  roads"  authorizes  it  to  build  its 
own  post  roads,  or  to  aid  with  money  the  State  or  local  com- 
munities to  build  the  public  roads  along  which  the  mails 
are  carried.  And  as  a  matter  of  fact.  Congress  in  1916  ap- 
propriated seventy-five  million  dollars  to  be  divided  ratably 
among  the  States  and  used  within  the  next  five  years  in  con- 
structing and  improving  public  roads,  in  co-operation  with 
the  State  or  local  communities,  which,  in  order  to  obtain  aid 
from  the  fund,  must  spend  an  equal  amount  on  the  roads 
designated  for  improvement. 

97.  Classes  of  Mail  Matter. — All  mailable  matter  has 
by  law  been  divided  into  four  classes:  first,  written  matter, 
such  as  letters  and  postal  cards,  whether  written  by  pen  or 
typewriter,  on  which  the  postal  rate  for  letters  is  two  cents 


122       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

for  each  ounce  in  weight  or  fraction  thereof,  and  one  cent  for 
each  postal  card  or  post  card;  second,  periodical  publications, 
such  as  newspapers  and  magazines,  for  which  the  carrying 
charges  are  one  cent  a  pound  when  sent  by  the  publisher; 
third,  miscellaneous  printed  matter,  such  as  pamphlets  and 
circulars,  and  newspapers  and  magazines  sent  by  others  than 
the  publisher,  in  unsealed  packages,  for  which  the  postal 
rate  is  one  cent  for  each  two  ounces;  and,  fourth,  books, 
merchandise,  products  of  farm  and  factory,  and  all  other 
articles  classed  as  domestic  parcels  post,  for  which  the  rates 
vary  according  to  the  weight  of  the  parcel  and  the  distance 
it  is  to  be  carried.  The  rate  for  carrying  an  article  weighing 
less  than  four  ounces,  any  distance  within  this  country,  is  one 
cent  an  ounce,  unless  it  be  a  book,  and  if  a  book  weighing  less 
than  eight  ounces  the  rate  is  one  cent  for  each  two  ounces. 
The  rates  for  all  other  parcels  are  pound  rates,  and  vary  from 
five  cents  for  carrying  a  parcel  weighing  one  pound  fifty  miles, 
to  54  cents  for  carrying  one  weighing  50  pounds  150  miles 
and  S2.40  for  carrying  one  weighing  20  pounds  1800  miles 
or  more. 

The  postal  charges  for  carrying  second  class  matter  must 
be  paid  in  money;  for  all  other  classes  they  are  paid  by  at- 
taching stamps  bought  from  the  Government.  The  rates 
for  the  first  three  classes  are  uniform  throughout  the  United 
States,  and  are  the  same  whether  the  posted  article  is  to  be 
carried  to  the  next  town  or  to  the  furthest  postoffice  in  this 
country,  or  to  Alaska,  Hawaii,  the  Philippine  Islands,  Porto 
Rico,  or  other  island  possessions  of  the  United  States;  and 
for  parcels  of  the  fourth  class,  the  rates  vary  only  as  to  dis- 
tances, the  greater  the  distance  they  are  to  be  carried  the 
larger  the  rates.  All  rates  are,  of  course,  subject  to  be  changed 
at  any  time  by  act  of  Congress. 

98.  Classes  of  Postmasters. — Postmasters  are  also 
divided  into  four  classes.  The  first  class  embraces  those  whose 
annual  salaries  are  three  thousand  dollars  or  more ;  the  second 


THE  POST  OFFICE.  123 

class,  all  those  whose  salaries  are  less  than  three  thousand, 
but  greater  than  two  thousand;  the  third  class,  all  those 
whose  salaries  are  less  than  two  thousand,  but  not  less  than 
one  thousand;  and  the  fourth  class,  which  includes  far 
inore  than  all  the  others,  embraces  all  those  whose  annual 
compensation  is  less  than  one  thousand  dollars.  All  post- 
masters of  the  first,  second  and  third  class  are  appointed  by 
the  President,  with  the  consent  of  the  Senate,  and  hence 
their  offices  are  called  ''presidential  post  offices;"  all  post- 
masters of  the  fourth  class  are  appointed  by  the  Postmaster- 
General,  or  one  of  his  numerous  assistants,  and  need  not  be 
confirmed  by  the  Senate.  All  postmasters  are  appointed 
for  a  term  of  four  years,  and  may  be  sooner  removed  for  cause. 

Of  late  years  the  Civil  Service  regulations  have  been 
extended  to  fourth  class  postmasters,  in  pursuance  to  which 
all  applicants  for  appointment  to  any  fourth  class  office  must 
submit  to  the  same  examination,  and  then  one  of  the  three 
obtaining  the  highest  grades  is  appointed;  and  the  examina- 
tion is  open  to  members  of  all  political  parties,  including  the 
existing  postmaster.  The  result  is  that  these  postmasters 
are  no  longer  chosen  because  of  their  political  influence  or 
their  services  to  their  parties,  but  from  among  those  whom 
the  examination  shows  to  be  best  qualified  to  perform  the 
duties  of  the  office.  It  may  even  occur  that  the  one  appointed 
may  belong  to  a  different  political  party  from  that  of  the 
President,  for  no  one  of  the  three  who  stand  the  best  examina- 
tion may  belong  to  his  party ;  but  if  any  one  of  the  three  does, 
there  is  nothing  in  the  regulation  that  prevents  that  one 
from  being  appointed. 

The  Civil  Service  regulations  do  not  apply  to  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  postmaster  to  a  presidential  post  office;  the  appli- 
cants for  appointment  to  such  an  office  are  not  required  to 
submit  to  an  examination,  but  the  President  may  appoint 
whomsoever  he  wishes.  But  those  regulations  do  apply  to 
nearly  all  the  numerous  assistants  in  such  an  office;  and  their 


124        CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

official  tenure  is  not  limited  to  four  years,  but  they  are 
usually  permitted  to  hold  their  positions  during  good  behavior 
and  so  long  as  they  render  efficient  service.  And  the  Presi- 
dent's choice  must  receive  the  approval  of  the  Senate  before 
he  can  become  postmaster  of  a  presidential  office. 

99.  Free  Delivery. — For  the  purpose  of  speedily  getting 
the  mails  to  the  people,  letter  carriers  are  employed  in  every 
city  of  fifty  thousand  population  or  over,  to  make  free  de- 
livery of  the  mail  at  the  doors  of  those  to  whom  it  is  addressed, 
as  often  as  the  public  business  may  require  it,  which  is  usually 
not  less  than  twice  each  week  day.  They  may  also  be  em- 
ployed, and  usually  are,  in  every  city  containing  ten  thousand 
inhabitants  or  at  any  post  office  whose  gross  receipts  reach 
ten  thousands  dollars  a  year;  and  this  free  delivery  service 
is  now  gradually  being  extended  to  all  post  offices  of  the  sec- 
ond and  third  class.  These  carriers  wear  a  uniform  dress  pre- 
scribed by  the  Postmaster-General,  and  some  of  them  in  the 
very  large  cities,  and  in  sparsely  settled  outlying  suburbs, 
are  mounted  on  horses.  Throughout  any  free  delivery  city 
mail  boxes  are  provided  where  the  people  may  deposit  their 
mails  without  going  to  the  post  office. 

And  a  special  delivery  system  has  been  provided  for  the 
prompt  delivery  of  letters  on  their  arrival  at  a  post  office. 
For  a  special  ten-cent  stamp  attached  to  the  letter  in  addition 
to  the  usual  two-cent  stamp,  or  for  ten  cents*  worth  of  ordinary 
stamps  in  addition  to  the  customary  postage  if  the  words 
"Special  Delivery"  are  placed  upon  the  letter,  a  special  mes- 
senger employed  for  the  purpose  will  deliver  it  to  the  person 
to  whom  it  is  addressed,  immediately  on  its  arrival  at  a  city 
delivery  office  at  any  time  between  seven  o'clock  in  the 
morning  and  eleven  at  night,  or  on  its  arrival  at  any  other 
office  at  any  time  between  seven  in  the  morning  and  seven 
in  the  evening,  or  until  the  arrival  of  the  last  mail,  provided 
it  arrives  before  nine  o'clock.  Any  such  letter  arriving 
during  the  night  is  delivered  promptly  after  seven  o'clock 


THE  POST  OFFICE.  125 

next  morning.  Provision  is  also  made  for  spetial  delivery  of 
letters  to  persons  residing  within  one  mile  of  a  post  office  or 
within  one-half  mile  of  a  rural  route. 

100.  Rural  Free  Delivery. — In  1896  Congress  appro- 
priated a  small  amount  of  money  to  be  used  by  the  Post- 
master-General, as  an  experiment,  in  extending  the  system 
of  the  free  delivery  of  mail  to  rural  communities.  The  ex- 
periment proved  attractive  to  the  people,  and  within  a  few 
years  what  is  known  as  "rural  free  delivery"  had  grown  so 
fast  that  more  than  one-third  of  all  the  country  had  been 
laid  off  into  rural  delivery  routes,  and  now  more  than  a  mil- 
lion square  miles  are  daily  reached  by  carriers  of  mail,  and  all 
families  within  that  wide  territory  residing  on  post-roads 
receive  mail  at  their  front  gates,  or  if  they  do  not  reside  on 
such  a  road,  at  a  box  placed  at  the  most  convenient  place 
along  the  road  traveled  by  the  carrier;  and  this  delivery 
system  is  year  by  year  being  extended  into  every  rural  com- 
munity having  enough  inhabitants  to  justify  the  expense. 
The  carrier  usually  makes  one  delivery  each  week  day,  but 
in  densely  populated  communities  he  makes  two  deliveries 
per  day,  and  if  the  roads  are  good  he  may  travel  by  auto- 
mobile. He  leaves  the  usual  mail  for  each  family  in  a  separate 
box  placed  at  its  own  expense  at  the  most  convenient  point 
along  the  post-road,  but  special  delivery  and  registered  letters 
he  must  deliver  at  the  residences  of  the  persons  to  whom  ad- 
dressed or  to  them  in  person.  He  may  also  deliver  mail  to^ 
persons  to  whom  it  is  addressed  if  he  meets  them  along  the 
route  and  they  are  known  to  him,  but  in  a  city  mail  is  not 
deliverable  except  at  residences  or  places  of  business. 

Wherever  rural  delivery  routes  are  established  "star 
route"  post  offices,  that  is,  post  offices  in  towns  or  villages  not 
reached  by  railroads,  are  usually  abolished,  as  no  longer 
needed. 

101.  Registered  Letters. — In  order  that  a  patron  may 
receive  extra   protection   in   the   transportation   of  valuable 


126       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

mailable  matter,  he  may,  at  an  extra  cost  of  ten  cents,  have 
his  letter  or  package  registered,  and  then  the  postal  officials 
are  required  to  keep  and  dispatch  it  in  the  most  secure  manner, 
and  to  trace  it  all  along  its  route,  and  to  deliver  it  only  to  the 
person  to  whom  it  is  addressed  or  as  he  may  in  writing  direct, 
and  may  take  the  written  receipt  of  the  person  to  whom  it 
is  delivered,  and  return  this  to  the  sender.  If  the  article 
is  lost  in  transit,  the  sender  may  be  reimbursed,  not  to  exceed 
its  value,  up  to  fifty  dollars.  All  mailable  matter  sent  from 
any  post  office  to  any  part  of  the  United  States  may  be 
registered,  and  that  sent  to  most  foreign  countries  may  be 
also. 

102.  Money  Orders. — Each  principal  post  office  is 
authorized  to  issue  and  to  pay  money  orders  for  sums  not 
exceeding  one  hundred  dollars  each.  This  affords  a  con- 
venient way  of  sending  small  amounts  of  money  to  any  part 
of  this  country  or  to  foreign  countries.  A  person  wishing  to 
send  money  in  this  way  takes  it  to  the  postmaster  of  a  money- 
order  office  and  for  a  few  cents  obtains  a  printed-and -written 
order  for  the  amount  he  wishes  to  send,  and  then  forwards 
it  to  the  person  named  therein  as  payee,  and  that  person  can 
collect  the  amount  at  the  office  on  which  the  order  is  drawn, 
and  in  some  cases  at  any  office  at  which  he  chooses  to  present 
it. 

103.  The  Postal  Union.— In  1875,  the  United  States, 
every  nation  in  Europe,  and  Egypt  agreed  upon  and  put  into 
operation  a  uniform  plan  for  the  transfer  and  delivery  of 
mail  sent,  by  an  inhabitant  of  any  one  of  those  countries  to 
a  person  in  any  other  of  them.  The  rate  for  letters  to  any 
part  of  Great  Britain  or  Germany,  Canada,  Mexico  or  Panama, 
is  two  cents  per  ounce,  and  for  all  other  foreign  countries  is 
now  five  cents  per  ounce,  and  a  letter  with  that  amount  of 
United  States  postage  on  it  addressed  to  a  person  in  any  of 
those  countries  and  posted  at  your  post  office  will,  in  times  of 
peace,  be  sent  on  to  its  destination  just  as  it  would  be  were 


THE  POST  OFFICE.  127 

^t  addressed  to  a  citizen  of  another  State  of  this  Union.  The 
Irate  for  printed  matter  is  one  cent  for  two  ounces.  This 
international  postal  system  is  known  as  the  "Postal  Union," 
[^and  now  embraces  every  civilized  nation.  But  in  all  inter- 
national mail  care  must  be  taken  to  exclude  dutiable  articles. 
The  payment  of  tariff  duties  cannot  be  avoided  by  sending  the 
articles  by  mail,  for  if  letters  or  packages  are  found  on  exami- 
nation to  contain  articles  on  which  our  laws  have  laid  an  impost, 
that  duty  must  be  paid  before  the  articles  will  be  delivered. 

103a.  The  Parcels  Post.— Until  recently  the  Post  Office 
^as  used  almost  exclusively  for  transmitting  things  written 
|pr  printed,  such  as  letters,  newspapers,  magazines  and  books. 
|lf  other  things,  such  as  small  articles  of  merchandise,  were 
irried,  they  had  to  bear  the  same  amount  of  stamps  as  a 
letter  or  printed  matter  of  like  weight  required;  and  that  was 
too  expensive,  and  the  result  was  that  very  few  of  such 
articles  were  transmitted  as  mail.  But  in  August,  1912,  the 
Congress  made  provision  for  the  transportation  of  all  other 
articles,  including  products  of  factory  or  farm,  except  things 
harmful  or  quickly  perishable.  Articles  weighing  as  much  as 
fifty  pounds  may  be  sent  as  parcels-post  to  any  point  within 
one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  of  the  post  office  from  which 
sent,  and  articles  weighing  not  to  exceed  twenty  pounds  to  a 
more  distant  point,  provided  they  do  not  exceed  seventy- 
two  inches  in  length  and  girth.  For  instance,  if  an  article  is 
36  inches  long,  10  inches  wide  and  8  inches  thick,  it  would 
have  a  combined  length  and  girth  of  72  inches.  The  parcels- 
post  system  affords  a  method  of  transporting  articles  that  is 
at  once  cheap,  quick  and  safe,  especially  if  they  weigh  only 
one  or  two  pounds  and  are  to  be  sent  more  than  one  thousand 
miles  or  to  a  point  within  the  first  zone  of  fifty  miles;  and  yet 
the  department  has  so  far  proved  self-supporting.  As  the 
people  become  better  acquainted  with  the  rates  and  the  uses 
to  which  it  can  be  put,  it  will  prove  of  constantly  increasing 
benefit  to  persons  of  small  means,  placing  many  desirable 


128       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

things  within  their  reach  and  decreasing  the  cost  to  them  of 
many  of  Hfe's  necessaries;  and  in  that  respect  it  is  one  of  the 
Government's  most  beneficent  undertakings,  for  a  govern- 
ment is  rendering  its  finest  service  when  it  adds  to  the  home 
comforts  and  lessens  the  burdens  of  the  people  who  toil. 

103b.  The  Postal  Savings  System  is  in  reality  a  limited 
banking  system  connected  with  the  Post  Office.  Any  person 
over  ten  years  of  age  may  deposit  a  small  amount  of  money 
at  almost  any  large  post  office,  and  if  he  permits  it  to  remain 
there  one  year  or  longer,  he  receives  two  per  cent  interest  on 
it.  He  can  withdraw  it  at  any  time,  and  "the  faith  of  the 
United  States  is  solemnly  pledged"  that  he  shall  have  it  when- 
ever he  demands  it ;  but  if  he  withdraws  it  before  the  expiration 
of  one  year  after  it  was  deposited,  he  receives  no  interest. 
The  money  is  in  turn  deposited  by  the  office  receiving  it  in 
strong  banks  in  the  community  or  close  by,  and  they  pay 
the  Government  two  and  one-half  per  cent  interest  for  the 
time  they  keep  it,  and  it  may  be  withdrawn  from  them  by  the 
Government  at  any  time.  The  system  was  first  inaugurated 
in  1911,  and  has  proven  an  actual  success.  Nearly  all  deposi- 
tors are  foreign-born  wage-earners,  who  are  not  acquainted 
with  the  banks  in  the  communities  in  which  they  labor,  and 
for  that  reason  would  keep  their  savings  concealed  about 
their  premises  or  carry  them  upon  their  persons  were  it  not 
for  this  system ;  but  they  do  have  confidence  in  the  Govern- 
ment, and  this  system  was  provided  in  order  that  they, 
and  other  persons  who  have  money  which  they  do  not  wish 
to  invest,  might  have  a  safe  place  of  their  own  preference  in 
which  to  deposit  their  money,  and  in  order  that  it  might  after 
being  deposited  be  turned  into  the  channels  of  active  business 
and  do  the  work  for  which  money  was  designed.  The  amount 
of  such  deposits  had  grown  to  more  than  seventy-five  million 
dollars  within  six  years  after  the  system  was  installed,  and 
the  number  of  depositors  was  more  than  six  hundred  thousand, 
most  of  them  residing  in  the  very  large  cities  or  in  mining 


THE  POST  OFFICE.  129 

communities,  and  the  Government  had  never  lost  one  dollar 
deposited  by  it  in  any  bank. 

104.  Growth  of  the  Post  Office.— The  Post  Office 
existed  in  this  country  from  the  earliest  settlement,  but  its 
development  during  the  Colonial  days  was  slow.  Slowly  it 
was  extended  between  the  colonies  along  the  Atlantic  coast, 
but  not  till  1672  was  there  "a  post  to  go  monthly  from  New 
York  to  Boston."  As  late  as  1760  Benjamin  Franklin  startled 
the  people  by  proposing  "to  run  a  stage  wagon  to  carry  the 
mail  from  Philadelphia  to  Boston,  once  a  week."  One  of  the 
earliest  acts  of  the  Continental  Congress  was  the  appoint- 
ment of  Franklin  "to  organize  a  post  office  and  post  routes 
from  Falmouth,  Maine,  to  Savannah,  Georgia,  for  conveying 
intelligence  and  letters  throughout  this  continent,"  and  to 
spread  knowledge  of  the  progress  of  the  Revolution  among  the 
different  colonies,  and  we  are  told  by  the  great  historian, 
Bancroft,  that  "he  thus  came  to  be  known  as  the  first  post- 
master-general." Prior  to  that  time  newspapers  were  mostly 
printed  by  the  postmasters  of  the  several  cities,  and  their 
papers  had  not  only  been  sent  free,  but  all  others  were  ex- 
cluded from  the  mails.  Franklin  was  the  first  to  give  equal 
privileges  to  all  publishers.  But  because  of  the  hard  days 
that  followed  the  Revolution,  the  postal  system  was  so  slowly 
developed  that  no  Postmaster-General  was  provided  under 
the  new  Constitution  until  1792,  and  in  1790  there  were  only 
75  post  offices  in  the  whole  United  States,  and  the  entire  cost 
of  the  system  that  year  was  only  $37,935.  Now  there  are 
about  fifty-six  thousand  post  offices,  and  the  whole  number  of 
postmasters,  clerks  and  carriers  is  more  than  three  hundred 
thousand;  the  whole  number  of  letters  and  postal  cards 
carried  each  year  is  about  ten  billions,  besides  almost  an 
equal  number  of  pieces  of  "other  mailable  matter,  and  the 
annual  cost  of  the  department  is  about  three  hundred  million 
dollars;  and  yet  this  immense  cost  is  almost  met  by  the  sale 
of  stamps  and  by  other  postal  receipts.     The  transportation 


130       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

of  mails  by  railroads  has  largely  supplanted  the  mail  hack 
and  the  slow  processes  of  former  times.  The  Government  now 
requires  the  mails  to  be  carried  on  theiastest  trains,  and  a 
letter  can  be  sent  from  Maine  to  California  in  less  time  and  at 
less  cost  than  one  could  have  been  sent  from  the  eastern  to 
the  western  border  of  your  State  seventy  years  ago. 

Questions  on  Chapter  XI. 

1.  What  powers  has  Congress  over  postal  matters?     (95) 

2.  What  effect  has  the  exercise  of  this  power  had?     How?     (95) 

3.  Could  the  Government  build  post  roads  of  its  own?     (96) 

4.  Why  has  it  not  done  so?     The  first  reason?     The  second?     (96) 

5.  What  has  Congress  done  instead?     (96) 

6.  Give  some  of  the  details  of  postal  contracts  and  the  postal 

system?     (96) 

7.  Discuss  aid  by  Congress  of  road  building?     (96) 

8.  How  many  classes  of  mailable  matter?     What  does  the  first 

include  and  what  are  the  rates?     The  second?     The  third? 
The  fourth?     (97) 

9.  How  uniform  are  these  rates?     (97) 

10.  Read  what  is  said  about  classes  of  postmasters.     (98) 

""11.  How  far  has  Civil  Service  regulations  been  extended  to  fourth 
class  postmasters?     And  to  presidential  postofiftces?     (98) 

12.  What  is  said  about  free  delivery?     (99) 

13.  Discuss  special  delivery.     (99) 

14.  Discuss  rural  free  delivery.     (100) 

15.  What  is  the  benefit  of  registering  letters?     (101) 

16.  What  is  said  about  postal  money  orders?     (102) 

17.  About  the  Postal  Union?     (103) 

18.  Discuss  the  parcels-post.     (103a) 

19.  Discuss  the  Postal  Savings  System.     (103b) 

20.  Describe  the  growth  of  the  Post  Office.     (104) 


WAR,  INSURRECTION,  ARMIES,  NAVIES,  MILITIA.      131 

CHAPTER  XII. 

WAR,  INSURRECTION,  ARMIES,  NAVY  AND  MILITIA. 

105.     War. — Congress    is   also    vested    with    the    extra- 
ordinary power  "to  declare  war." 

War  has  been  among  the  worst  scourges  of  mankind. 
[t  should  ever  be  viewed  with  horror.  "In  its  best  estate,  it 
never  fails  to  impose  upon  the  people  the  most  burdensome 
taxes  and  bitter  personal  sufferings.  It  always  involves  the 
prosperity,  and  frequently  the  very  existence,  of  the  nation. 
In  a  republic,  which  is  necessarily  founded  on  peace,  it  some- 
times proves  fatal  to  public  liberty  itself,  by  arousing  among 
the  people  a  fondness  for  military  glory  which  induces  them 
to  readily  follow  wherever  a  successful  commander  will  lead." 
It  lays  hold  of  the  strongest  young  men,  and  sends  them  forth 
to  ruthless  slaughter.  It  imposes  the  severest  burdens  and 
hardships  upon  parents  at  home,  and  fills  the  land  with 
orphans,  cripples  and  sorrowing  widows.  It  arouses  hate, 
hardens  the  heart,  and  leads  soldiers  on  to  commit  and  citizens 
to  approve  the  most  brutal  atrocities.  It  demoralizes  business, 
cripples  peaceable  pursuits,  closes  schools,  and  puts  a  stop  to 
humane  efforts  to  relieve  the  unfortunate  and  better  the  condi- 
tions of  the  toiler.  It  is  the  opportunity' of  the  demagogue, 
the  exploiter,  the  robber,  the  hypocrite  and  the  despoiler  of 
homes.  It  substitutes  anger  for  reason,  insolence  for  good 
manners,  hate  for  friendliness,  conquest  for  peaceable  endeavor, 
brutal  force  for  honest  commerce,  and  heathenism  for  civili- 
zation. It  lays  a  restraining  hand  on  freedom  of  the  press 
and  freedom  of  speech,  and  often  on  freedom  of  religion,  and 
in  other  ways  turns  the  government  into  a  tyrant.  It  can 
never  be  justified  except  as  the  only  means  of  putting  an  end 
to  unbearable  wrongs. 

Horrible  as  it  is,  the  framers  of  our  Constitution  realized 


132       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

that  occasions  might  arise  when  the  Government,  for  its  own 
preservation  or  as  the  only  means  of  upholding  the  nation's 
honor,  might  be  compelled  to  resort  to  it.  Our  people  have 
come  more  and  more  to  love  peace  and  peaceable  industry. 
They  desire  to  be  friendly  with  all  the  peoples  of  the  earth.  As 
the  great  George  Washington  said  in  his  Farewell  Address  to 
them,  they  desire  "to  observe  good  faith  and  justice  towards 
all  nations"  and  to  "maintain  a  magnanimous  example  of  a 
people  always  guided  by  an  exalted  justice  and  benevolence." 
They  do  not  want  to  conquer  other  nations  or  to  take  their 
territory  by  force.  They  think  that  by  education,  by  peace- 
able industry,  by  honest  commerce,  is  the  best  way  to  estab- 
lish prosperity  at  home  and  to  render  the  largest  service  to 
other  peoples.  But  as  we  grow  prosperous,  other  nations  grow 
envious  and  desirous  of  more  territory  and  a  larger  commerce 
and  a  larger  influence  in  the  world's  affairs,  and  their  heathenish 
kings  and  military  autocrats,  with  characteristic  royal  ignor- 
ance, seize  upon  a  war  of  conquest  as  the  only  means  of  obtain- 
ing an  outlet  for  the  energies  of  their  people  and  an  opportunity 
to  grow  rich.  It  sometimes  comes  about  that  the  more  peace- 
able and  less  inclined  to  war  a  nation  is  the  more  it  is  scoffed 
and  scorned  and  insulted  By  other  peoples.  They  mistake 
patience  for  cowardice,  and  peaceable  pursuits  for  avarice; 
they  despoil  our  citizens  of  their  commerce,  interfere  with 
their  free  right  to  the  high  seas,  seize  their  property,  and  even 
recklessly  take  the  lives  of  those  who  do  not  submit  to  their 
aggressions;  and  when  protest  is  made  by  our  Government, 
they  answer  with  insolence  and  increase  their  offenses.  These 
things  bring  about  conditions  that  are  unbearable,  and  if 
persisted  in  lead  to  war. 

The  Constitution,  which  is  based  on  the  principle  that  all 
authority  in  a  republic  is  derived  from  the  people,  vested  the 
power  to  declare  war,  not  in  the  President  or  the  Army  or 
the  Navy,  or  in  all  combined,  but  in  the  immediate  repre- 
sentatives of  the  people,  who  in  the  end  must  bear  its  burdens. 


WAR,  INSURRECTION,  ARMIES,  NAVIES,  MILITIA.      133 

Congress  alone  can  declare  war,  but  once  declared,  Congress 
has  no  more  to  do  with  it  than  to  furnish  men  and  means  to 
carry  it  on.  The  actual  work  of  carrying  it  on  then  becomes 
the  duty  of  the  executive  department  of  the  Government. 
The  raising  and  equipment  of  troops,  the  buying  or  making  of 
guns  and  munitions,  the  appointing  of  generals  and  officers,' 
the  planning  of  campaigns  and  the  fighting  of  battles,  are  to 
be  done  by  the  President  and  those  to  whom  he  shall  assign 
these  duties. 

106.  Armies. — Congress  has  power  "to  raise  and  support 
armies,"  provide  for  their  organization  and  appropriate  money 
to  maintain  them.  The  President  is  the  commander-in-chief 
of  the  Army,  in  war  or  peace,  and  its  organization,  equipment, 
movements  and  control  are  conducted  through  the  Depart- 
ment of  War,  the  chief  officer  of  which  is  the  Secretary  of  War. 

All  able-bodied  male  citizens  between  the  ages  of  eighteen 
and  forty-five  years  "constitute  the  national  forces"  and, 
with  the  exception  of  a  few  specifically  exempt  because  of 
their  occupations  or  religious  beliefs,  are  "liable  to  perform 
military  duty  in  the  service  of  the  United  States."  Male 
citizens  of  that  age  are  said  to  be  of  military  age.  They  may 
never  be  called  upon  to  perform  military  duty,  but  they  are 
liable  to  be  when  Congress  has  need  of  them. 

In  1916  after  all  the  great  nations  of  Europe  had  been  in 
a  great  war  for  nearly  two  years  and  our  own  peace  was 
being  constantly  imperiled.  Congress  made  provision  for  large 
increases  in  the  size  and  strength  of  all  the  defensive  forces  of 
the  nation.  The  army  now  consists  of  the  Regular  Army, 
the  Volunteer  Army,  the  Officers'  Reserve  Corps,  the  Enlisted 
Reserve  Corps,  the  National  Guard  while  in  the  service  of 
the  United  States,  and  such  other  land  forces  as  may  be 
authorized  by  Congress. 

107.  The  Regular  Army. — "The  Regular  Army  is  a 
permanent  military  establishment,  maintained  in  both  peace 
and  war."     It  has  been  maintained  in  some  size  almost  from 


134        CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

the  foundation  of  the  Government.  At  first  it  was  used  to 
put  down  Indian  uprisings,  which  frequently  occurred  sudden- 
ly. Then  as  the  country  grew  more  thickly  populated  and 
turbulent  persons  multiplied,  it  was  considered  necessary  to 
have  a  well  drilled,  organized  and  equipped  force  ready  and 
able  to  quickly  quell  disorders. and  preserve  peace.  Now  it 
is  used  almost  entirely  in  the  Philippine  Islands,  Hawaii, 
Alaska,  Porto  Rico,  the  Panama  Canal  zone,  and  along  the 
Mexican  border  and  other  places  where  order  is  not  firmly 
established,  to  quickly  put  down  sudden  uprisings,  and  more 
especially  to  ward  off  invasions  of  our  own  land. 

Between  the  Mexican  and  Civil  wars  the  army  consisted 
of  between  4,000  and  6,000  privates  and  officers.  As  the 
troubles  of  the  Civil  War  quieted,  its  size  was  fixed  at  30,000 
men,  but  soon  afterwards  was  reduced  to  25,000,  and  remained 
about  that  size  until  the  outbreak  of  the  war  with  Spain  in 
1898.  At  the  close  of  that  war,  the  Philippine  Islands  and 
Porto  Rico  w^ere  added  as  "island  possessions"  of  the  United 
States,  and  on  February  2,  1901,  Congress  declared  that  "the 
total  enlisted  force  shall  not  at  any  time  exceed  one  hundred 
thousand  men;"  and  under  its  provisions  the  Regular  Army 
for  the  next  fifteen  years  varied  from  about  sixty-two  thousand 
to  eighty  thousand  men  and  officers,  of  whom  five  thousand 
or  more  were  in  the  Philippine  Islands.  In  1916  Congress 
declared  that  the  total  enlisted  force  of  the  Regular  Army 
in  line  of  duty  should  not  at  any  one  time,  except  in  the  event 
of  actual  or  threatened  war  or  similar  emergency,  exceed  one 
hundred  and  seventy-five  thousand  men;  and  provided  that 
in  order  to  bring  it  up  to  that  number  one-fifth  of  the  total 
increase  should  be  added  each  year  for  five  years. 

Soldiers  are  divided  into  three  kinds,  cavalry,  artillery 
and  infantry.  Cavalry  are  mounted  on  horses,  artillery  use 
field  guns  and  howitzers  (cannon),  and  infantry  are  foot  soldiers 
who  fight  with  rifles  and  machine  guns;  and  in  the  Regular 
Army  there  are  64  regiments  of  infantry,  25  of  cavalry,  and  21 
of  field  artillery,  besides  the  Coast  Artillery  Corps. 


WAR,  INSURRECTION,  ARMIES,  NAVIES,  MILITIA.      135 

For  systematic  management  the  mobile  army  is  organ- 
ized into  divisions,  brigades,  regiments,  battalions  and  com- 
panies. The  unit  of  organization  is  a  regiment,  which  is 
commanded  by  a  colonel. 

Each  regiment  of  infantry  consists  of  one  colonel,  one 
lieutenant  colonel,  three  majors,  fifteen  captains,  sixteen 
first  lieutenants,  fifteen  second  lieutenants,  one  chaplain,  and 
one  headquarters  Company,  one  machine  gun  company,  one 
supply  company  and  twelve  infantry  companies  organized 
into  three  battalions. 

Each  battalion  consists  of  one  major,  one  first  lieutenant 
(mounted)  and  four  companies. 

Each  infantry  company  in  the  battalion  consists  of  one 
captain,  one  first  lieutenant,  one  second  lieutenant,  one  first 
sergeant,  one  mess  sergeant,  one  supply  sergeant,  six  ser- 
geants, eleven  corporals,  two  cooks,  two  buglers,  one  mechanic, 
nineteen  privates  (first  class),  and  fifty-six  privates — or  103 
officers  and  men.  A  headquarters  company  consists  of  59 
men;  a  machine  gun  company,  of  67;  and  a  supply  com- 
pany, of  thirteen  officers,  and  one  wagoner  for  each  wagon  in 
the  field  train. 

A  regiment  of  infantry,  therefore,  is  composed  of  not  less 
than  1383  officers  and  privates;  and  the  President  in  his  dis- 
cretion may  increase  its  size  to  about  2000  officers  and  privates. 

A  regiment  of  cavalry  has  the  same  number  of  companies 
(including  a  machine  gun  troop)  and  about  the  same  officers 
as  a  regiment  of  infantry,  though  a  less  number  of  privates. 
Its  twelve  field  companies  or  troops  are  organized  into  three 
squadrons  of  four  troops  each,  each  squadron  being  com- 
manded by  a  major. 

The  artillery  is  divided  into  two  branches,  Field  Artillery 
and  the  Coast  Artillery  Corps. 

The  Field  Artillery  consists  of  126  batteries  organized  into 
twenty-one  regiments.  A  regiment  has  about  the  same  officers 
as  a  regiment  of  infantry,  but  it  is  not  divided  into  battalions, 


136        CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

nor  does  it  have  companies,  but  instead  of  companies  it  has 
batteries,  each  of  which  has  about  the  same  officers  as  a 
company  of  infantry,  but  eighteen  more  privates.  The  Coast 
Artillery  Corps  consists  of  over  thirty-two  thousand  men. 
They  are  not  organized  into  regiments  or  companies,  but 
stationed  at  forts  along  the  coast,  in  such  numbers  as  may  be 
needed  at  each,  for  the  purpose  of  protecting  an  exposed  city 
or  warding  off  the  landing  of  enemy  troops  at  strategic  points. 
They  are  supplied  with  guns  of  every  calibre — some  of  them 
capable  of  firing  shells  fifteen  inches  in  diameter  a  distance  of 
fifteen  miles  or  more. 

Infantry,  cavalry  and  field  artillery  are  organized  into 
brigades  of  three  regiments  each,  and  the  brigades  are  organ- 
ized into  divisions.  An  infantry  division  consists  of  three 
brigades  of  infantry,  one  of  field  artillery,  and  one  regiment  of 
cavalry,  a  regiment  of  engineers,  an  aero  (or  aviation  or 
air-ship)  squadron,  an  ammunition  traiti,  a  supply  train  and  a 
sanitary  (or  hospital)  train.  Two  or  more  divisions  may  be 
united,  and  then  are  known  as  a  corps. 

The  commander  of  a  division  is  a  major  general;  of  a 
brigade,  a  brigadier  general;  of  a  regiment,  a  colonel;  of  a 
battalion,  a  major;  and  of  a  company,  a  captain.  When  an 
ofificer  dies  or  is  retired,  the  vacancy  is  filled  by  the  promotion 
of  an  officer  from  the  next  rank  below  his.  For  instance,  if 
a  major  were  to  die  or  retire  or  be  promoted,  a  captain  would 
be  promoted  to  the  rank  of  major,  and  a  first  lieutenant  would 
be  promoted  to  take  the  place  vacated  by  the  captain's 
promotion. 

The  higher  officers  are  educated  at  the  United  States 
Military  Academy  at  West  Point,  New  York,  and  after  com- 
pleting a  four-year  course  of  training  and  study  are  graduated 
with  the  rank  of  second-lieutenant.  Before  graduation  they 
are  known  as  cadets,  and  are  selected  in  about  equal  numbers 
from  each  Congressional  district,  and  a  small  number  from 
each  State  at  large.     While  at  the  Academy  they  are  paid 


WAR,  INSURRECTION,  ARMIES,  NAVIES,  MILITIA.      137 

$600  a  year,  with  which  to  buy  clothing  and  pay  their  other 
necessary  expenses. 

Privates  and  inferior  officers  are  recruited  by  voluntary 
enlistments  throughout  the  land.  Every  second,  third  and 
fourth  class  postoffice  is  a  recruiting  office.  All  enlistments  are 
for  a  term  of  seven  years,  of  which  the  first  three  are  in  the 
active  service,  and  the  other  four  in  the  Regular  Army  Reserve. 
During  the  three  years  of  active  service  the  enlisted  men  are 
given  opportunity  to  receive  instruction  in  industrial,  com- 
mercial and  general  business  occupations,  so  that  upon  the 
termination  of  their  enlistments  they  may  return  to  civil 
life  better  equipped  for  its  pursuits. 
jfe  Privates  receive  fifteen  dollars  a  month  while  in  active 
■  service,  and  in  addition  clothes,  rations,  guns  and  other  things 
necessary  for  their  support.  Other  enlisted  men  (or  inferior 
officers)  receive,  in  addition  to  these  things,  from  twenty-one 
dollars  a  month  for  a  corporal  to  forty-five  dollars  for  a  first 
sergeant. 

108.  The  Regular  Army  Reserve. — The  suddenness  with 
which  almost  the  whole  of  Europe  was  convulsed  with  war  in 
1914  created  in  this  country  a  demand  for  reserve  soldiers, 
who,  already  trained,  could  be  quickly  mobilized,  in  case  of 
emergency,  to  resist  an  invasion  by  any  foreign  nation.  Out 
of  this  demand  grew  the  act  of  Congress  creating  the  Regular 
K  Army  Reserve.  It  was  designed  to  train  and  equip  a  large 
force  of  private  citizens  who  would  be  prepared  for  actual 
service  in  the  event  of  war.  It  consists  (1 )  of  enlisted  men  who 
have  served  three  of  their  seven  years'  enlistment,  and  (2) 
:  ,of  all  other  able-bodied  soldiers  under  forty-five  years  of  age 
who  have  fulfilled  the  full  time  of  their  enlistments  in  the 
Regular  Army  and  been  discharged. 

It  also  consists  (3)  of  the  Enlisted  Reserve  Corps,  com- 
posed of  such  a  number  of  men  as  the  President  may  desig- 
nate, who  enlist  for  a  period  of  four  years,  and  for  periods  of 
fifteen  days  in  each  year  receive  from  officers  of  the  Regular 


138       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Army  and  other  officers,  military  instruction  and  training  at 
training  camps,  during  which  time  they  receive  the  pay  of 
soldiers  of  like  grade  in  the  army,  and  their  traveling  expenses. 
They  also  receive  twenty-four  dollars  a  year  during  the  four 
years  they  continue  to  be  reserves,  and  if  called  for  service  in 
actual  war  they  receive,  in  addition  to  the  pay  of  regular 
soldiers  of  their  rank,  three  dollars  a  month  for  all  the  time 
they  were  in  reserve  duty. 

It  also  consists  (4)  of  the  Officers*  Reserve  Corps,  com- 
posed of  officers  of  all  grades  up  to  that  of  major,  appointed 
for  periods  of  five  years  for  the  purpose  of  securing  a  reserve 
of  officers  available  for  service  whenever  needed.  For  fifteen 
days  each  year  they  are  ordered  to  duty  with  troops  or  at 
field  exercises,  or  for  instruction  in  army  regulations,  and 
during  that  time  receive  the  pay  of  officers  of  corresponding 
rank  in  the  Regular  Army.  For  their  education  officers 
of  the  Regular  Army  are  detailed  to  universities,  colleges 
and  other  schools  which  have  made  instruction  in  military 
science  a  part  of  their  course  of  study.  Those  students  who 
have  completed  an  approved  course  of  collegiate  study,  and 
the  prescribed  military  training,  which  must  be  equal  to  five 
hours  per  week  for  at  least  two  years,  and  have  agreed  to  take 
one  or  more  periods  of  six  weeks  each  in  camp  training,  are 
eligible  for  appointment  to  the  Officers'  Reserve  Corps,  with 
the  rank  of  second-lieutenant ;  but  the  total  number  of  reserve 
officers  so  appointed  cannot  exceed  fifty  thousand. 

All  reserve  officers  and  enlisted  men  are  liable  to  be 
summoned  for  actual  service  in  times  of  threatened  or 
actual  war,  and  when  so  mobilized  they  become  a  part  of 
the  Regular  Army. 

109.  The  National  Guard. — Congress  has  power  "to 
provide  for  organizing,  arming  and  disciplining  the  militia, 
and  for  governing  such  part  of  them  as  may  be  employed  in 
the  service  of  the  United  States,  reserving  to  the  States 
respectively  the  appointment  of  the  officers,  and  the  authority 


WAR,  INSURRECTION,  ARMIES,  NAVIES,  MILITIA.      139 

of  training  the  militia  according  to  the  discipline  prescribed 
by  Congress." 

In  each  State  there  is  a  military  organization  called  "the 
militia"  or  "National  Guard."  Its  officers  are  appointed 
by  the  Governor,  and  it  is  organized  and  trained  according 
to  rules  prescribed  by  Congress.  It  is  composed  of  young 
men  who  voluntarily  join  for  the  purpose  of  receiving  military 
training,  and  of  being  prepared  to  defend  the  State  or  nation 
whenever  needed.  A  company  may  be  organized  in  any 
part  of  the  State  where  a  sufficient  number  of  men  of  military 
age  to  form  a  company  voluntarily  enlist.  The  Government 
supplies  them  with  uniforms,  guns,  camp  equipage  and  other 
military  supplies.  They  assemble  for  drill  and  instruction  by 
their  own  officers  for  periods  of  not  less 'than  one  and  one- 
half  hours  forty-eight  times  a  year  for  three  years,  and  in 
addition  are  annually  trained  in  camps  for  not  less  than  fifteen 
days,  by  officers  of  the  National  Guard  and  officers  of  the 
Regular  Army.  For  the  three  years  engaged  in  the  assembly 
drill  they  receive  one-fourth  the  pay  of  soldiers  of  like  grade 
in  the  army,  and  officers  receive  from  S200  a  year  for  a  second- 
lieutenant  to  $500  for  a  captain — all  paid  by  the  Government. 

The  National  Guard  has  been  extensively  nationalized 
in  recent  years.  Each  State  still  has  the  right  to  use  its  own 
Guard  in  times  of  peace,  but  Congress  now  requires  each 
member  of  it  to  take  an  oath  to  obey  the  orders  of  the  President 
as  well  as  of  the  Governor,  and  to  enlist  for  a  period  of  three 
years  in  service  and  three  years  in  reser\^e;  officers  may  be 
removed  for  lack  of  moral  character,  capacity  or  general 
fitness,  and  cannot  be  appointed  unless  they  meet  such  tests 
of  qualification  as  the  President  may  prescribe,  and  the 
number  of  enlisted  men  must  not  be  less  than  200  for  each 
Senator  and  Representative  to  which  a  State  is  entitled,  and 
must  be  increased  until  it  reaches  800,  so  that  the  entire 
National  Guard  at  full  strength  will  be  about  425,000  men, 
and  Missouri's  full  quota  is  14,400. 


140       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

The  National  Guard  is  for  the  most  part  infantry,  but 
there  is  provision  also  for  cavalry,  artillery  and  a  naval 
militia.  The  whole,  or  any  part  of  it,  may  be  called  into  the 
national  service  in  time  of  threatened  or  actual  war,  and  when 
that  is  done  it  becomes  a  part  of  the  Regular  Army  and  subject 
to  orders  from  its  commanders. 

But  in  ordinary  times  it  is  a  separate  organization  in 
each  State,  maintained  for  the  purpose  of  suppressing  uprisings, 
which  are  too  violent  and  wide-spread  to  be  put  down  by  the 
ordinary  peace  officers  of  a  county  or  city.  It  can  be  increased 
to  a  larger  size  than  the  laws  of  Congress  prescribe;  in  fact, 
in  case  of  an  insurrection  or  a  powerful  uprising  of  disorderly 
persons,  the  Governor  could  compel  every  able-bodied  male 
citizen  between  the  ages  of  eighteen  and  forty-five  years, 
except  judges,  civil  officers  and  persons  whose  religion  forbids 
them  to  bear  arms,  to  enroll  in  the  National  Guard  and  do 
his  part  in  restoring  order  and  preserving  the  authority  of 
the  State  government.  Not  only  that,  but  another  clause  of 
the  Constitution  (Art.  4,  sec.  4)  provides  that  the  United 
States  shall  protect  each  State  "against  invasion,  and,  on  the 
application  of  the  Legislature  or  of  the  Executive  (when  the 
Legislature  cannot  be  convened),  against  domestic  violence;" 
and  hence  if  the  National  Guard  is  not  strong  enough  to 
suppress  violence  within  the  State,  the  Governor  or  Legis- 
lature could  apply  to  the  President  for  help,  and  he  would  send 
the  Regular  Army  to  restore  order.  So  we  see  from  these 
clauses  how  highly  the  framers  of  the  Constitution  valued 
public  order  and  the  preservation  of  authority  and,  govern- 
ment, for  under  them  the  Governor  could  call  to  his  aid,  not 
only  all  the  powers  of  the  State,  but  the  whole  armed  authority 
of  the  United  States,  if  it  were  needed  to  suppress  domestic 
violence. 

110.  The  Volunteer  Army. — ^When  a  war  is  declared  by 
Congress,  it  authorizes  the  President  to  organize  a  Voluntary 
Army  of  a  designated  number  of  men  and  to  equip  them  for 


WAR,  INSURRECTION,  ARMIES,  NAVIES,  MILITIA.      141 

army  service.  The  President  then  calls  on  each  State  to 
furnish  its  share,  apportioned  according  to  population.  If 
the  voluntary  enlistments  do  not  provide  the  State's  share, 
Congress  may  direct  a  conscription,  called  during  the  Civil 
War  a  "draft."  Then  all  men  of  military  age  are  enrolled  for 
army  duty,  and  certain  ones  of  them  are  chosen  by  lot  and 
compelled  to  become  soldiers  or  hire  substitutes. 

The  five  wars  this  country  has  had  were  largely  fought  by 
volunteers  from  farms  and  shops,  and  their  conduct  has  proved 
that  volunteers  can  be  quickly  trained,  and  when  trained 
become  the  best  soldiers,  because  the  most  intelligent  and 
patriotic.  When  the  great  Civil  War  ended  there  were  a 
million  of  such  soldiers  in  arms,  and  the  fact  that  they  then 
peaceably  submitted  to  disbandment  and  quietly  returned  to 
their  homes  and  took  up  again  the  pursuits  of  civil  life  is 
proof  that  this  is  not  a  warlike  country  and  an  earnest 
that  our  Government  will  continue  to  be  a  republic. 

111.  The  Navy. — ^The  Congress  is  given  the  power  to 
"provide  and  maintain  a  navy." 

The  Navy  is  supposed  to  be  necessary  to  protect  com- 
merce, deter  other  nations  from  attacking  our  coast  cities  and 
from  seizing  our  trading  ships,  and  to  quickly  protect  any 
citizen  who  may  be  lawfully  journeying  to  or  sojourning  in 
another  land.  It  is  argued  that  a  strong  navy  gives  confidence 
to  foreign  trade,  enforces  respect  for  our  country  and  its 
authority,  and  actually  prevents  war,  by  deterring  warships 
of  other  nations  from  committing  acts  of  aggression  against 
our  ships  or  any  of  our  citizens;  and  in  that  belief  Congress  is 
constantly  enlarging  and  improving  the  Navy.  In  times  of 
war,  a  navy  fights  the  enemy  at  sea,  and  may  shell  the  coast 
cities  of  the  enemy  nation  and  maintain  a  blockade,  by 
which  ships  of  any  kind  and  of  any  nation  are  prevented 
from  entering  or  leaving  any  such  enemy  city. 

The  Navy  consists  of  battleships,  armoured  cruisers, 
steel-protected   cruisers,   double-turret   monitors,   steel   gun- 


142       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THg  UNITED  STATES. 

boats,  torpedo  destroyers,  submarine  torpedo  boats,  and 
numerous  other  war  vessels — more  than  250  in  all. 

The  battleships  are  the  largest  warships.  The  newest 
ones  cost  twelve  million  dollars  each,  weight  twenty-seven 
thousand  tons  or  more,  carry  ten  fourteen-inch  or  eight 
fifteen-inch  guns,  twelve  or  more  eight-inch  or  six-inch  guns, 
four  under-water  torpedo  tubes,  and  many  other  smaller  or 
rapid-fire  guns,  and  are  manned  by  eight  hundred  to  twelve 
hundred  men.  They  are  usually  named  for  the  States,  thus, 
"The  Pennsylvania,"   "The  Arizona." 

The  armored  cruisers  are  little  less  powerful,  though  their 
armament  consists  of  smaller  guns.  They  are  protected  by 
belts  of  steel,  five  or  six  inches  thick,  extending  five  feet  below 
water  line  and  to  the  upper  deck.  They  are  named  for  the 
large  cities,  thus,  "The  St.  Louis,"  "The  Philadelphia." 
These  vessels  travel  all  over  the  world,  and  visit  any  waters 
where  the  President  may  think  American  citizens  or  interests 
may  be  helped  or  protected  by  their  presence. 

The  number  of  men  by  which  the  Navy  is  manned  varies 
with  the  warlike  conditions  of  the  world,  but  in  1916  it  con- 
sisted of  about  4,000  officers,  54,000  enlisted  men  and  1135 
midshipmen.  But  in  that  year  Congress  made  provision  for 
its  gradual  increase  in  both  men  and  vessels. 

The  Navy  has  a  reserve,  just  as  does  the  Army.  By  the 
same  act  Congress  made  provision  for  a  large  Naval  Reserve 
Force.  It  consists  of  citizens  who  obligate  themselves  to 
serve  the  navy  in  time  of  war  or  during  the  existence  of  a 
national  emergency,  and  who  enroll  for  the  purpose  of  being 
trained  and  prepared  to  do  efficient  service  whenever  the 
President  declares  such  an  emergency  exists.  They  enroll 
for  terms  of  four  years,  and  are  given  a  rank  or  grade  in  ac- 
cordance with  their  qualifications  as  determined  by  an  ex- 
amination, and  are  thereupon  assigned  to  active  duty  in  the 
Navy  for  such  periods  of  instruction  and  training  as  may  be 
necessary  to  qualify  them  for  service  in  that  rank  or  grade ; 
and  having  taken  that  instruction,'  they  go  back  into  private 


WAR,  INSURRECTION,  ARMIES,  NAVIES,  MILITIA.      143 

life,  but  subject  at  any  time,  upon  the  summons  of  the  Presi- 
dent, to  return  for  service.  The  minimum  training  required 
of  enlisted  men  to  qualify  for  active  service  is  three  months. 
During  the  time  of  their  training  they  receive  twelve  dollars 
a  month,  their  clothing  and  all  needed  supplies.  Other 
reserves  are  enlisted  men  who  have  served  four  full  years  in 
the  Navy  and  been  honorably  discharged;  honorably  dis- 
charged naval  officers;  and  men  who  have  been  trained  to 
sea-going  service  and  have  connected  themselves  with  mer- 
chant ships  of  the  type  known  as  "naval  auxiliaries,"  which 
mean  ships  engaged  in  carrying  supplies  for  war  vessels  and 
navy  yards. 

112.  Navy  Organization  and  Officers. — The  commander- 
in-chief  of  the  Navy  is  the  President,  but  its  affairs  are  con- 
ducted through  the  Navy  Department,  over  which  the 
President  appoints  a  member  of  his  Cabinet,  the  Secretary 
of  the  Navy,  who  superintends  the  work  done  by  the  Navy, 
the  movement  and  construction  of  ships,  the  enlistment  of 
recruits,  the  appointment  of  officers,  and  the  purchase  or 
manufacture  of  guns,  shells  and  supplies.  The  chief  active 
officer  of  the  line  is  the  rear-admiral.  The  classification  of 
vessels  and  the  assignment  of  officers  are  made  according  to 
rules  formulated  by  the  President,  but  in  a  general  way  it 
may  be  said  that  a  rear-admiral  commands  a  squadron, 
that  is,  a  detachment  of  vessels  employed  on  a  particular  sea 
or  ocean;  that  vessels  of  the  first  class  are  commanded  by 
captains,  of  the  second  class  by  commanders,  of  the  third 
class  by  lieutenant  commanders,  and  that  the  class  of  a  ship 
depends  on  the  number  of  guns  it  carries. 

The  active  officers  of  the  navy  "are  educated  at  the  Gov- 
ernment's expense  at  the  Naval  Academy  at  Annapolis,  from 
students  called  midshipmen,  of  whom  a  few  are  appointed 
each  year  from  the  whole  country  at  large,  and  one  for  each 
Senator  and  Representative  appointed  on  their  recommenda- 
tions every  two  years. 


144       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

113.  Marine  Corps. — ^Attached  to  the  Navy,  though 
not  a  part  of  it,  is  the  Marine  Corps,  consisting  of  about  6,000 
marines  and  over  200  officers.  Marines  are  sea  soldiers;  that 
is,  soldiers  trained  to  fight  with  army  rifles  and  machine  guns, 
and  sent  along  with  war  vessels  to  aid  them  on  land  in  case 
of  an  attack  upon  a  city  or  fort,  and  also  to  do  duty  in  forts 
or  garrisons  on  our  own  sea  coast. 

114.  Captures. — Congress  makes  rules  determining  what 
is  to  be  done  with  property  or  men  captured  in  time  of  war  on 
land  or  sea.  Among  most  nations  a  captured  war  vessel 
belongs  to  the  nation  capturing  it.  An  enemy  trading  or 
passenger  ship,  if  captured,  is  destroyed,  if  it  cannot  be  convoyed 
into  port;  if  it  can  be  so  convoyed,  it  and  all  property  on  board 
belong  to  the  officers  and  sailors  making  the  capture.  That  is 
one  kind  of  piracy  that  is  still  tolerated  by  civilized  nations. 

When  a  war  between  two  or  more  nations  is  declared  every 
other  nation  has  the  right  to  require  the  merchant  ships 
and  war  vessels  of  each  of  them  then  lying  in  its  ports,  to  go 
to  sea  within  a  few  days  or  be  interned  during  the  war.  This 
demand  the  neutral  nations  must  make  and  enforce,  else  to 
permit  the  ships  of  the  nations  at  war  to  remain  in  their  ports, 
or  within  the  three-mile  zone  along  the  coast,  would  be  con- 
sidered the  harboring  of  enemy  vessels  and  an  unfriendly  act. 
For  these  reasons,  in  order  to  avoid  capture  at  sea,  the  mer- 
chant ships  of  a  nation  which  does  not  have  a  navy  able  to 
protect  them,  when  a  war  with  a  nation  having  a  strong  navy 
able  to  command  the  sea  comes  on,  intern  during  the  war  in 
the  nearest  friendly  port;  that  is,  they  tie  up  and  remain  in 
port  until  the  war  is  over.  Thereby  great  injury  is  done  to 
that  nation's  commerce,  and  in  these  facts  is  to  be  found  one 
of  the  strongest  arguments  for  constructing  a  navy  in  time  of 
peace — in  order  to  be  prepared  to  protect  and  maintain  in 
active  commerce  trading  ships  when  war  is  declared. 

Enemy  property  captured  on  land  does  not  belong  to  the 
men  capturing  it.     They  cannot  honestly  appropriate  it  to 


War,  insurrection,  armies,  navies,  militia.     145 

their  own  use.  If  it  consists  of  guns  or  munitions  or  horses 
that  can  be  used  in  prosecuting  the  war,  they  are  added  to 
the  army  stores;  if  it  consists  of  things  that  cannot  be  so 
used,  or  of  things  that  cannot  be  carried  away,  they  are 
destroyed  or  sold  or  abandoned.  It  is  considered  dishonor- 
able for  soldiers  to  appropriate  private  property  to  their 
own  use  without  paying  for  it,  or  to  needlessly  burn  houses 
or  barns  or  cities,  though  they  belong  to  adherents  of  the  enemy. 
Soldiers  and  sailors  captured  in  war,  though  called 
"prisoners,"  are  not  considered  criminals  and  are  not  punished 
as  for  crimes,  but  are  held  in  camps  or  at  forts  as  prisoners  of 
war  until  peace  is  declared,  or  are  exchanged  for  men  of  like 
rank  captured  by  the  enemy.  It  is  considered  brutal  to 
put  to  death  or  ill  treat  prisoners  of  war  captured  in  battle. 
But  these  considerations  are  not  extended  to  captured  spies, 
or  to  traitors  who  have  deserted  and  joined  the  enemy; 
among  all  nations  it  is  deemed  proper  to  put  them  to  death, 
or  subject  them  to  severe  punishment. 

115.  How  Supported. — The  Army  and  Navy  are  sup- 
ported by  money  raised  by  taxation.  The  cost  is  now 
several  hundred  million  dollars  annually.  The  entire  cost 
of  the  great  Civil  War  was  nearly  eight  billions. 

But  lest  a  reckless  Congress  should  undertake  to  commit 
the  next  Congress  to  a  war  and  thus  make  impotent  the 
voice  of  the  people  against  it,  or  lest  the  army  should  get 
beyond  the  control  of  the  Government,  Congress  is  forbidden 
to  appropriate  money  to  carry  on  a  war  or  to  support  an 
army  for  a  longer  time  than  two  years.  Of  course  at  the 
end  of  that  time  the  incoming  Congress  can  make  other  ap- 
propriations for  maintaining  the  army  if  it  considers  it  neces- 
sary that  the  war  should  go  on.  The  framers  of  the  Con- 
stitution felt  that  a  great  army  is  always  to  be  dreaded  in  a 
republic,  and  hence  this  provision  is  made,  so  that  the  soldiers 
may  be  disbanded  and  sent  to  their  homes  when  the  war  is 
over,  and  so  that  the  war  may  be  ended  whenever  the  people 

10 


146       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

at  the  elections  demand  that  it  be  no  longer  carried  on,  and 
so  that  the  size  of  the  army  may  be  reduced  in  times  of  peace 
if  that  seems  wise. 

116.  Rules  and  Regulations. — But  not  only  does  Con- 
gress have  control  over  the  moneys  that  go  to  support  the 
army,  but  it  is  given  power  "to  make  rules  for  the  govern- 
ment and  regulation  of  the  army  and  navy."  The  Army 
cannot  become  greater  than  its  creator.  Neither  can  the 
Navy.  Each  must  itself  be  subject  to  the  authority  of 
Congress,  and  that  means  in  the  end  it  must  be  obedient  to 
the  will  of  the  people.  Congress  not  only  determines  how 
large  the  Army  and  Navy  shall  be,  under  what  rules  they 
shall  be  organized  and  do  their  work,  but  how  offenses  of 
soldiers  and  sailors  and  officers  shall  be  punished,  and  by  a 
whom,  or  it  can  authorize  the  President  to  make  the  rules 
and  regulations  by  which  they  are  to  be  governed,,  and  that 
is  the  course  usually  pursued,  and  if  those  regulations  do  not 
suit  the  people  their  remedy  is  to  elect  a  Congress  that  will 
make  different  regulations.  Thus  we  see  that  "the  military 
authority  must  always  be  subject  to  the  civil  authority," 
and  that  means  that  armies  are  as  much  under  the  authority 
of  law  as  is  a  private  citizen. 

117.  Insurrection. — ^The  Congress  has  power  "to  pro- 
vide for  calling  forth  the  militia  to  execute  the  laws  of  the 
Union,  suppress  insurrection,  and  repel  invasions."  This 
clause  of  the  Constitution  is  no  less  important  than  the  one 
which  gives  Congress  power  to  declare  war.  Under  it  the 
"Whiskey  Insurrection"  was  put  down  while  Washington 
was  President,  and  President  Lincoln  invoked  it  as  the 
Union's  authority  for  putting  down  the  secession  movement 
at  the  time  of  the  Civil  War. 

If  the  people  were  to  resist  a  decision  of  the  United  States 
courts  or  the  officers  of  the  Union  engaged  in  enforcing  its 
laws,  the  President,  aided  by  Congress,  under  this  clause 
could  call  forth  as  much  of  the  militia  as  he  deemed  necessary. 


WAR,  INSURRECTION.  ARMIES.  NAVIES,  MILITIA.      147 

if  the  usual  officers  and  the  Regular  Army  were  not  able  to 
enforce  order.  Thus,  while  Washington  was  President,  the 
people  of  western  Pennsylvania  resisted  the  officers  who  were 
appointed  to  collect  the  excise  tax  on  distilled  spirits,  and 
drove  the  collectors  out  of  their  counties.  When  they  were 
indicted  by  the  Federal  court,  they  resisted  the  marshal  who 
came  to  arrest  them,  and  when  he  came  with  deputies,  they 
arose  to  the  number  of  two  thousand  and  forced  them  to  flee 
for  their  lives,  and  armed  and  arranged  themselves  into  com- 
panies. Thereupon,  under  this  authority  given  the  Congress 
"to  provide  for  calling  forth  the  militia  to  execute  the  laws  of 
the  Union,"  the  President  called  15,000  men  into  the  field 
from  four  near-by  States,  put  them  under  the  command  of 
Governor  Lee  of  Virginia,  and  suppressed  this  uprising  in 
short  order.  This  clause,  then,  gives  the  Congress  and  the 
President  authority  to  put  down  uprisings  against  the  laws  of 
the  Union  and  to  enforce  the  judgments  of  its  courts. 

118.  Separate  Authority  of  State  and  Nation. — It  is 
necessary  to  remember  that  whether  the  State  or  the  Union 
first  acts  in  enforcing  the  law  or  suppressing  public  disorder, 
depends  on  whether  it  is  the  authority  of  the  State  or  the 
authority  of  the  Union  that  is  resisted.  If  the  people  should 
resist  a  law  of  Congress  or  defy  the  authority  of  a  Federal 
court,  the  President  must  act;  but  if  they  resist  the  laws  of 
the  Legislature  or  the  authority  of  a  State  court,  the  Gov- 
ernor or  some  other  State  officer  must  act.  In  the  Whiskey 
Insurrection  we  saw  that  the  people  resisted  the  collection  of 
the  United  States  revenue,  and  when  they  were  indicted  for 
that  in  a  Federal  court  they  resisted  the  authority  of  the 
marshal  of  that  court  who  tried  to  arrest  them.  The  marshal 
then  called  to  his  aid  some  deputies,  but  they  too  were  over- 
come. It  was  not  the  duty  of  the  Governor  of  Pennsylvania 
to  step  in  and  aid  the  marshal  in  enforcing  the  decrees  of  that 
court,  for  the  uprising  was  not  against  the  State  government, 
but  "the  laws  of  the  Union."     Therefore,  when  the  marshal 


148       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

found  "combinations  too  powerful  to  be  suppressed  by  the 
ordinary  course  of  judicial  proceedings,"  he  called  upon  the 
President,  who,  being  without  an  army,  called  forth  "the 
militia  to  execute  the  laws."  In  our  time,  the  President, 
instead  of  calling  forth  the  militia,  would  first  use  so  much  of 
the  Regular  Army  as  he  could  readily  send  to  the  place  of  the 
disturbance,  and  if  that  proved  insufficient,  he  would  call  forth 
the  Regular  Army  Reserve  or  the  National  Guard  of  the 
States,  or  both,  and  if  they  too  were  insufficient  then  Congress 
would  authorize  him  to  raise  a  volunteer  army. 

But  if  the  uprising  were  wholly  against  the  authority  of 
a  State  court  or  were  in  resistance  of  the  authority  of  a  State 
officer,  it  would  first  be  the  duty  of  the  sheriff  to  undertake 
to  restore  order  and  arrest  the  culprits,  and  if  he  and  his 
ordinary  deputies  were  not  strong  enough  to  do  that,  then 
his  duty  would  be  to  resort  to  the  posse  comitatus,  that  is, 
to  summon  the  men  of  his  county  to  aid  him,  and  if  they 
proved  insufficient  he  could  call  on  the  Governor,  who  could 
send  the  whole  National  Guard  of  the  State  to  his  aid,  and  if 
that  proved  insufficient  the  Governor  could  enroll  all  the  men 
in  the  State  liable  to  military  duty,  or  before  he  did  that,  or 
afterwards,  the  Legislature  or  (if  it  could  not  be  convened) 
the  Governor  could  call  on  the  President  for  help,  and  the 
President  would  then  send  him  so  much  of  the  Regular  Army 
as  might  be  needed,  and  if  that  proved  not  enough  then  he 
could  send  the  National  Guard  from  other  States. 

But  sometimes  the  uprising  may  be  against  both  State 
and  National  authority.  Thus  a  destructive  riot  along  a 
railroad  might  be  such.  In  tearing  up  the  tracks  and  burning 
cars,  the  rioters  would  resist  State  authority;  in  stopping- 
cars  which  carry  mail,  they  would  be  resisting  National 
authority.  And  in  such  case,  the  Governor  or  President  or 
both  may  suppress  them. 


WAR,  INSURRECTION,  ARMIES,  NAVIES,  MILITIA.      149 

Questions  on  Chapter  XII. 

1.  With  what  extraordinary  power  is  Congress  vested?     (105) 

2.  Give  some  of  the  evils  of  war.     (105) 

3.  When  and  for  what  reasons  may  war  be  waged?     (105) 

4.  Can  the  President  declare  war?     Who  alone  can?     (105) 

5.  Who  carries  it  on  after  it  is  declared?     (105) 

6.  What  are  the  powers  of  Congress  in  reference  to  armies?     (106) 

7.  Who  constitute  the  national  forces?     (106) 

8.  Of  what  does  the  army  now  consist?     (106) 

9.  What  is  the  Regular  Army?     (107) 

10.  What  is  the  total  enlisted  force  now  required  to  be?     (107) 

11.  How  are  soldiers  divided?     Describe  each.     How  many  regi- 

ments of  each  in  the  Regular  Army?     (107) 

12.  Into  what  is  the  mobile  army  organized?     (107) 

13.  Can  you  from  what  is  here  said  and  by  counting,  show  that  a 

regiment  of  infantry  consists  of  1383  officers  and  men?     (107) 

14.  How  is  artillery  divided?     Describe  the  Field  Artillery.     The 

Coast  Artillery  Corps.     (107) 

15.  Describe  the  organization  of  brigades  and  divisions  and  corps? 

(107) 

16.  Who  are  commanders  of  the  different  army  units?     (107) 

17.  How. are  these  officers  obtained?     (107) 

18.  How  are  privates  and  inferior  officers  obtained?     (107) 

19.  What  is  the  pay  of  enlisted  men?     (107) 

20.  What  is  the  reason  and  design  for  the  Regular  Army  Reserve? 

(108) 

21.  Of  what  does  it  consist?     First?     Second?     (108) 

22.  And  third,  describe  the  Enlisted  Reserve  Corps.     (108) 

23.  And  fourth,  describe  the  Officers'  Reserve  Corps?     (108) 

24.  When  are  reserves  liable  to  army  service?     (108) 

25.  What  power  has  Congress  over  the  militia?     (109) 

26.  What  is  the  name  of  each  State's  military  organization?     (109) 

27.  By  whom  are  its  officers  appointed,  and  how  is  it  organized  and 

composed?     (109) 

28.  How  is  it  supplied  with  guns,  etc.?     (109) 

29.  What  training  and  pay  do  they  receive?     (109) 

30.  What  is  said  of  the  organization  of  the  National  Guard  and  its 

required  size?     (109) 

31.  What  is  it  in  ordinary  times?     (109) 

32.  In  case  of  great  uprisings  against  State  authority  who  may 

be  enrolled  in  it?     (109) 


150       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

33.  Of  what  other  forces  may  the  State  avail  itself  in  suppressing 

domestic  violence?     (109) 

34.  What  is  said  of  a  Voluntary  Army?     (110) 

35.  Can  Congress  create  a  navy?     (HI) 

36.  Why  is  a  navy  supposed  to  be  necessary?     (Ill) 

37.  Of  what  does  the  Navy  consist?     (Ill) 

38.  Describe  a  battleship.     An  armored  cruiser?     (Ill) 

39.  Discuss  the  officers  and  the  classification  of  vessels.     (112) 

40.  What  is  said  of  the  Marine  Corps?     (113) 

41.  What  power  has  Congress  in  reference  to  captures?     (114) 

42.  To  whom  does  a  captured  war  vessel  belong?     (114) 

43.  What  is  done  with  a  captured  trading  or  passenger  ship?      (114) 

44.  What  is  said  about  interning  ships  in  time  of  war?     (114) 

45.  How  does  this  affect  commerce  and  the  need  for  a  strong  navy? 

(114) 

46.  What  is  done  with  enemy  property  captured  on  land?     (114) 

47.  Is  it  right  for  soldiers  to  steal  or  burn  private  property?     (114) 

48.  How  are  soldiers  and  sailors  captured  in  war  regarded?     (114) 

49.  How  is  the  Army  and  Navy  supported?     (115) 

49a.  Can  one  Congress  fasten  on  the  people  the  burden  of  supporting 
an  army  for  an  indefinite  number  of  years?     (115) 

49b.  Discuss  by  whose  rules  the  Army  and  Navy  are  governed? 
(116) 

50.  What  further  important  power  has  Congress?     (117) 

51.  On  what  two  important  occasions  was  this  power  invoked?  (117) 

52.  If  the  people  were  to  resist  decisions  of  Federal  Courts  or  Union 

officers,  what  could  the  President  do?     (117) 

53.  Describe  how  this  was  done  in  the  Whiskey  Rebellion?     (117) 

54.  What  authority,  then,  does  this  clause  give  Congress  and  the 

President?.   (117) 

55.  Whether  the  State  or  Union  first  acts  in  suppressing  public  dis- 

orders, depends  on  what?     (118) 

56.  If  a  law  of  Congress  or  the  authority  of  a  Federal  Court  is 

resisted,  who  must  act?     (118) 

57.  If  the  laws  or  authority  of  a  State  are  resisted,  who  must  act? 

(118) 

58.  Give  an  example.     (118) 

59.  What  would  the  President  now  do  instead  of  calling  forth  the 

militia?     (118) 

60.  Describe  the  course  that  would  be  pursued  if  the  uprising  were 

wholly  against  the  State  authority?     (118) 

61.  If  the  uprising  were  against  both  State  and  National  authority 

who  would  suppress  it?     (118) 


POWERS  DENIED  TO  THE  UNITED  STATES.  151 


CHAPTER  XIIL 

POWERS  DENIED  TO  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

119.    Affirmative   and    Negative    Powers. — So   far  the 

discussion  has  been  directed  towards  the  powers  granted  to 
Congress.  The  Constitution  expressly  says  that  Congress 
may  do  certain  things;  but  for  fear  the  Congress  or  the  Gov- 
ernment, or  some  of  its  officers,  might  attempt  to  do  other 
things  not  mentioned,  the  Constitution  went  further  and 
specifically  mentioned  some  things  that  Congress  should  not  do. 
Some  of  these  are  mentioned  in  Section  IX  of  Article  I  of 
the  Constitution  under  the  heading,  'Towers  Denied  to  the 
United  States."  But  they  are  not  all  mentioned  in  that 
section.  Some  of  them  are  found  in  the  first  ten  Amend- 
ments, proposed  at  the  first  session  of  the  First  Congress,  and 
ratified  by  a  three-fourths  majority  of  the  States  as  early  as 
December  15,  1791 ;  in  fact,  one  or  two  States  ratified  those 
amendments  at  the  same  time  they  ratified  the  Constitution 
as  first  framed.  So  it  is  not  only  important  to  know  what  Con- 
gress may  do ;  it  is  also  important  to  know  what  it  maynot  do. 
119a.  Importation  of  Slaves. — The  Constitution  (Art. 
1,  sec.  9,  cl.  1)  said  that  Congress  should  not  prior  to  1808 
prohibit  "the  migration  or  importations  of  such  persons  as 
any  of  the  States  now  existing  shall  think  proper  to  admit." 
This  meant  that  Congress  could  not  prohibit  the  importation 
of  slaves  into  the  United  States  prior  to  1808.  It  was  the 
first  public  act  by  any  nation  in  the  world  against  the  then 
prevalent  sin  of  capturing  negroes  in  Africa,  bringing  them 
to  the  New  World  and  selling  them  into  slavery;  and  while 
it  did  not  and  was  not  intended  to  put  an  immediate  stop  to 
that  traffic,  yet  when  the  year  1808  had  arrived  Congress 
lost  no  time  in  prohibiting,  by  severe  penalties,  the  importa- 
tion of  "such  persons"  into  this  country.     For  some  reason 


152        CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

the  words  slave  or  negro  or  "persons  of  African  descent" 
are  not  used  in  this  clause,  but  it  has  always  been  admitted 
that  it  refers  to  the  African  slave-trade.  Since  slavery  has 
long  since  been  abolished  the  clause  is  now  only  of  historical 
interest,  first,  as  indicating  how  slavery  was  then  regarded, 
not  only  by  the  framers  of  the  Constitution,  but  by  the 
States  which  adopted  it,  and,  secondly,  as  containing  one 
of  the  powers  denied  to  Congress. 

120.  Habeas  Corpus. — The  Constitution  (Art.  1,  sec. 
9,  cl.  2)  says  that  "the  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus 
shall  not  be  suspended  unless  when  in  cases  of  rebellion  or 
invasion  the  public  safety  may  require  it." 

The  words  habeas  corpus  are  Latin  words,  which  mean, 
"Have  you  the  body,"  and  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  is  a 
summons  directed  to  a  sheriff,  marshal  or  other  officer  com- 
manding him  to  have  the  body  of  the  accused  person  before 
the  court  forthwith,  and  to  show  by  what  authority  he  de- 
prives him  of  his  liberty.     When  the  officer  makes  return  to 
that  writ  the  court  puts  aside  all  other  business  and  proceeds 
at  once  to  determine  whether  or  not  the  accused  is  being 
legally  held,  and  if  he  is  not  he  is  discharged.     In  former 
times  men  were  arrested  on  suspicion,  or  because  the  mob 
raised   an  uproar  against  them,   or  because  the  officer  or 
king  hated   them.     They  were  confined  in  prison  on  mere 
oral  charges,  or  without  any  formal  accusation  in  writing, 
or  without  trial  or  a  chance  to  give  bail  till  trial,  or  were 
condemned  unheard,  and  even  against  the  law  of  the  land. 
Such  things  could  not  occur  in  our  country,  and  the  writ  of 
habeas  corpus  was  devised  for  the  express  purpose  of  pre- 
venting or  putting  a  stop  in  an  orderly  way  to  such  cruelties 
and  oppression.     In  our  land  the  accused  person  is  entitled 
to  be  informed  of  the  offense  of  which  he  is  accused,  and  when 
arrested  a  warrant  or  complaint,  in  which  is  formally  stated 
the  crime  he  is  charged  with  having  committed,  must  be  issued 
by  the  court,  either  before  or  immediately  after  his  arrest, 


POWERS  DENIED  TO  THE  UNITED  STATES.  153 

and  if  that  is  not  done,  not  only  is  the  officer  holding  him 
and  his  bondsmen  liable  to  him  for  damages,  but  he  can  go 
to  any  higher  court,  even  the  highest  court  in  the  State,  and 
in  some  instances  even  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States,  and  immediately  by  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  obtain 
his  release.  He  may  have  been  arbitrarily  denied  bail  con- 
trary to  law,  or  at  his  trial  he  may  have  been  denied  the  right 
to  have  witnesses  in  his  own  behalf,  or  denied  the  right 
of  trial  by  jury  when  he  was  entitled  to  a  jury  trial,  or  the  law 
under  which  he  was  convicted  may  have  been  in  violation 
of  the  Constitution;  for  all  these  wrongs,  and  many  others, 
the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  affords  him  a  speedy  remedy,  and 
that  remedy  neither  Congress,  nor  any  State,  can  take  away 
from  him,  except  when  in  times  of  rebellion,  or  invasion  by  a 
foreign  foe,  the  public  safety  may  require  that  the  writ  be 
for  a  time  withheld. 

The  great  purpose  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  is  to  force 
courts  to  give  an  accused  a  fair,  speedy,  public  trial  by  a 
jury  according  to  the  forms  of  law,  and  to  restrain  detectives, 
policemen,  sheriffs  and  other  officers,  and  soldiers  and  militia, 
from  arbitrary  and  cruel  arrests  of  private  citizens,  and  from 
acting  as  judges  themselves.  It  was  designed  to  prevent 
officers  clothed  with  great  power  from  abusing  that  power 
and  using  it  to  inflict  cruel  or  tyrannical  oppression  upon 
others. 

121.     Bills  of  Attainder  and  Ex  Post  Facto  Laws.— The 

Constitution  also  says  that  ''no  bill  of  attainder  or  ex  post 
facto  law  shall  be  passed."  A  bill  of  attainder  is  a  legislative 
act  that  inflicts  punishment  without  judicial  trial.  A  bill 
brought  into  Congress  or  a  legislature,  condemning  to  punish- 
ment the  person  named,  without  a  sentence  or  trial  of  a  court, 
would  be  such  a  bill.  Formerly  such  bills  were  passed  by  Parlia- 
ment in  England,  and  the  person  thus  punished  was  said  to  be 
attainted;  that  is,  his  blood  was  said  to  be  corrupted,  he  could 
neither  acquire  property  nor  transmit  it  to  his  children,  and 
he  was  denied  the  protection  of  the  laws.     Such  a  bill  would 


154       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

be  contrary  to  the  Constitution.  No  humane  people  would 
uphold  it.  It  is  an  instrument  of  oppression  and  tyranny. 
It  would  be  absolutely  destructive  of  trial  by  jury.  It  would 
make  out  of  the  legislative  body  an  arbitrary  and  irrespon- 
sible despot,  punishable  by  no  one,  however  extravagant  its 
actions.  It  belongs  only  to  cruel  or  barbarous  nations.  This 
clause  in  the  Constitution  is  of  chief  interest  to  us  as  indicat- 
ing how  determined  our  forefathers  were  to  make  entirely 
separate  the  legislative  and  judicial  powers  of  government. 
Their  idea  was  that  an  accused  person  could  only  be  con- 
victed by  a  jury.  Trials  belong  to  courts,  and  all  trials 
ought  to  be  in  courts  and  the  guilt  or  innocence  of  the  accused 
determined  by  an  impartial  jury.  A  legislative  body  may 
investigate  the  guilt  of  one  of  its  own  members  to  the  extent 
of  determining  whether  or  not  he  is  to  remain  a  member  or 
be  expelled,  and  it  may  by  impeachment  remove  an  executive 
officer,  but  it  cannot  pronounce  a  private  citizen  guilty  of  a 
crime. 

Ex  post  facto  laws  are  equally  unfair.  They  make  an 
act  a  crime  against  which  there  was  no  law  when  the  act  was 
committed.  They  declare  certain  conduct  to  be  criminal 
and  provide  punishment  for  any  person  who  has  been  guilty 
of  that  conduct  at  any  time  in  the  past.  Such  laws  would 
be  unjust.  Certainly  no  one  ought  to  be  punished  for  doing 
a  thing  which  was  not  a  crime  when  he  did  it. 

And  the  Constitution  not  only  says  that  Congress  must 
not  pass  any  bill  of  attainder  or  ex  post  facto  law,  but  it  as 
plainly  says  (Art.  I,  sec.  10,  par.  1)  that  no  State  shall  pass 
any  such  bill  or  law.  And  if  either  Congress  or  the  Legis- 
lature should  do  so  and  an  attempt  were  made  to  enforce  it, 
the  courts,  if  appealed  to,  would  issue  the  writ  of  habeas 
corpus  and  prevent  its  enforcement. 

122.  Export  Tax. — In  the  same  section  IX  it  is  said 
that  "no  tax  or  duty  shall  be  laid  on  articles  exported  from 
any  State."     We  have  seen  that  Congress  may  lay  a  tax  on 


POWERS  DENIED  TO  THE  UNITED  STATES.  155 

articles  imported  into  this  country.  But  neither  it  nor  any 
State  can  lay  an  export  tax  on  things  shipped  abroad.  It 
was  supposed  that  home  industries  would  be  much  encouraged 
and  more  profitable,  and  foreign  trade  greatly  enlarged,  if 
the  Government  charged  nothing  for  shipping  goods  out 
of  this  to  other  countries. 

123.  Regulations  of  Commerce  and  Taxation. — It  would 
be  a  violation  of  the  Constitution  for  a  sectional  party  to 
undertake  to  build  up  the  business  of  its  section  at  the  ex- 
pense of  another  part  of  the  country  by  means  of  laws  de- 
signed to  regulate  commerce  either  among  the  States  or  with 
foreign  countries,  or  by  tariff  laws  designed  to  increase  the 
industrial  prosperity  of  one  section  at  the  expense  of  another. 
To  do  that  is  an  ever-present  temptation  to  selfish  Congress- 
men, but  the  Constitution  (Art.  I,  sec.  9,  cl.  6)  says  that  "no 
preference  shall  be  given  by  any  regulation  of  commerce  or 
revenue  to  the  ports  of  one  State  over  those  of  another." 
A  very  high  tariff  laid  on  products  or  goods  like  those  pro- 
duced in  one  part  of  the  country,  and  a  very  low  tariff  on 
goods  or  products  like  those  produced  in  another  section, 
might  very  greatly  benefit  the  one  and  injure  the  other, 
since  it  would  tend  to  give  to  the  one  a  monopoly  in  this 
country  of  the  things  it  produced,  and  compel  the  other  to 
compete  with  the  world  in  the  sale  of  its  products.  Such  a 
method  of  laying  tariff  taxes  would  be  selfish  sectionalism. 
Congress  is  also  given  power  to  regulate  commerce  among 
the  States  and  with  foreign  countries,  but  in  doing  that  it 
must  have  equal  regard  for  the  interests  of  every  State. 
Anything  less  than  that  is  bad  faith,  and  the  party  responsible 
for  it  should  be  defeated  at  the  elections. 

Foreign  commerce  increases  the  business  and  riches  of 
that  part  of  the  country  which  engages  in  it.  It  can  be 
aided  by  a  supply  of  sufficient  ports  and  wharfs  and  collectors, 
and  crippled  by  a  failure  to  supply  them,  for  ships  will  always 
prefer  ports  at  which  they  can  quickly  load  and  unload,  and 


156       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

railroads  will  center  at  a  port  where  their  freights  and  pas- 
sengers can  be  quickly  sent  on  their  way  across  the  sea,  and 
where  they  may  quickly  transfer  to  their  cars  cargoes  for 
shipment  into  the  interior  of  the  country.  So  that  it  is  the 
duty  of  Congress  to  supply  each  port  with  such  accommoda- 
tions as  its  trade  may  reasonably  require,  and  the  extent  of 
such  accommodations  will  always  depend  on  the  natural 
needs  (or  advantages)  of  the  port.  The  trade  that  naturally 
will  flow  into  one  port  will  certainly  be  larger  than  that  of 
another  port,  and  the  size  of  the  wharf,  the  docks,  the  number 
of  collectors,  the  depth  of  the  water  must  be  commensurate 
therewith.  But  all  ports  must  be  treated  with  equal-handed 
fairness,  according  to  their  natural  needs.  The  primary 
principle  of  American  government  is  justice,  and  this  clause 
of  the  Constitution  requires  that  Congress  in  regulating 
commerce  among  the  States  and  with  foreign  countries  and 
in  laying  tariff  taxes  must  be  just — ^just  to  all  the  States  alike. 

124.  Free  Trade  Among  the  States. — The  Constitution 
guarantees  to  the  inhabitants  of  one  State  absolute  free 
trade  with  those  of  all  other  States.  By  which  is  meant, 
that  neither  Congress  nor  any  State  can  levy  an  export  or 
an  import  tax  on  goods  or  persons  passing  from  one  State  to 
another.  The  Constitution  says,  "Nor  shall  vessels  bound 
to  or  from  one  State  be  obliged  to  enter,  clear  or  pay  duties 
in  another."  New  Orleans  cannot  assess  tariff  taxes  on  a 
cargo  of  goods  shipped  to  her  port  from  Boston.  Iowa  cannot 
collect  import  duties  on  cotton  shipped  to  her  from  Arkansas. 

Until  the  time  of  the  Spanish-American  War  in  1898 
this  clause  was  generally  understood  to  apply  to  every  State 
and  Territory  and  possession  of  the  United  States.  But  it 
does  not  do  so  in  express  words,  and  the  Supreme  Court  held 
that  Congress  could  limit  its  application  to  the  States  alone, 
and  could  require  the  inhabitants  of  conquered  or  purchased 
islands,  such  as  the  Philippines  or  Porto  Rico,  to  pay  tariff 
duties  on  all  their  goods  shipped  into  any  State,  and  make 


POWERS  DENIED  TO  THE  UNITED  STATES.  157 

those  tariffs  higher  or  lower  than  those  charged  against  goods 
from  other  countries. 

125.  Appropriations. — No  money  can  be  paid  out  of  the 
Treasury  except  "in  consequence  of  appropriations  made 
by  law."  Neither  the  President  nor  the  courts  nor  any  ex- 
ecutive officer  can  spend  any  of  the  Government's  money 
until  Congress  consents.  Congress  can  alone  declare  for  what 
the  moneys  collected  into  the  Treasury  by  taxation  may  be 
used.  This  it  does  by  laws  called  appropriation  bills.  These 
bills  set  out  in  detail  the  things  for  which  the  money  may 
be  spent.  Then  there  are  auditors  and  comptrollers  of 
the  Treasury,  who  examine  every  item  of  expenditure  and 
see  that  no  money  is  paid  out  except  for  the  purposes  for 
which  Congress  appropriated  it.  In  order  that  the  people 
may  know  how  the  public  revenue  is  being  spent,  and  in 
order  that  Congress  may  know  that  it  has  been  spent  just  as 
it  has  directed,  "a  regular  statement  and  account  of  the  re- 
ceipts and  expenditures  of  all  public  money  shall  be  pub- 
lished from  time  to  time."  Appropriation  bills  may  be 
passed  at  any  session. 

126.  Titles. — No  title  of  nobility  can  be  granted  by 
the  United  States.  Titles  of  nobility  are  lord,  earl,  duke, 
duchess,  baron,  princess.  In  other  countries  they  are  con- 
ferred by  the  king  or  inherited  from  an  ancestor.  They  are 
out  of  harmony  with  the  basic  principles  of  a  republic,  which 
is  that  all  citizens  have  equal  rights  before  the  law.  A  re- 
public cannot  prefer  some  of  its  citizens  over  others.  To 
recognize  titles  by  law  would  be  to  create  ranks  among  the 
people.  And  of  course  our  Government  will  not  permit 
other  nations  to  confer  titles  upon  its  officers  which  it  can- 
not itself  confer. 

127.  Presents. — No  person  holding  any  office  of  profit 
or  trust  under  the  United  States  shall,  without  the  consent  of 
Congress,   accept  any  present,   office  or  title,  of  any   kind 


158       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

whatever,  from  any  other  nation  or  any  of  its  officers.  For 
him  to  do  so  might  lessen  his  loyalty  to  his  own  country. 
American  officers  are  chosen  to  look  after  the  public  business 
which  the  people  through  their  laws  have  directed  to  be  done. 
But  nevertheless  weak  natures  occasionally  find  their  way 
into  public  office  who  might  be  won  away  from  their  devotion 
to  their  own  country  if  a  high-sounding  title  or  a  valuable 
present  were  given  to  them,  by  another  government.  The 
meaning  of  this  provision  is  that  all  persons  who  hold  offices 
or  positions  of  trust  under,  the  Government  must  give  their 
entire  allegiance  to  that  Government.  They  must  have  no 
divided  loyalty;  they  are  not  to  have  any  secret  alliances 
with  any  other  nation;  they  must  be  satisfied  with  the  pay 
and  honors  which  their  own  country  confers  upon  them. 
While  holding  an  office  or  position  of  trust,  they  can  accept 
no  title  or  office  or  pay  or  gift  of  any  kind  from  any  foreign 
king  or  nation  without  first  obtaining  the  consent  of  Congress 
to  do  so. 

128.  Freedom  of  Religion. — The  First  Amendment  to  the 
Constitution  says  that  "Congress  shall  make  no  law  respecting 
the  establishment  of  religion,  or  prohibiting  the  free  exercise 
thereof." 

Prior  to  the  Revolutionary  War  the  citizens  of  some  of 
the  colonies  had  been  taxed  to  maintain  a  favored  church. 
That  was  done,  for  the  most  part,  by  laws  enacted  by\their 
legislatures,  and  that  tax  was  imposed  on  persons  who  were  not 
members  of  that  church,  as  well  as  upon  those  who  were, 
and  even  upon  those  who  were  members  of  other  churches. 
This  part  of  the  Constitution  absolutely  prohibits  such  tax- 
ation by  Congress.  It  does  not  forbid  any  State  from  levying 
taxes  for  the  support  of  churches,  but  the  constitution  of 
nearly  every  State  contains  a  provision  prohibiting  its  legis- 
lature from  levying  taxes  or  using  public  money  for  such  a 
purpose. 


POWERS  DENIED  TO  THE  UNITED  STATES.  159 

It  should  be  observed  that  the  prohibition  is  against  the 
"establishment  of  religion."  That  means,  a  church  estab- 
lished by  the  Government  and  supported  by  the  Government. 
It  does  not  prohibit  the  building  and  support  of  churches  by 
private  citizens.  On  the  contrary,  it  specifically  says  that 
no  law  "prohibiting  the  free  exercise"  of  religion  by  any  person 
shall  ever  be  passed  by  Congress.  It  allows  all  men  to  adopt 
and  practice  such  religion  as  they  may  severally  choose,  and 
to  give  their  money  freely  for  its  propagation.  The  theory 
behind  this  part  of  the  amendment  is  that  the  Government 
cannot  impose  religion  upon  men  without  becoming  arbitrary 
and  oppressive,  and  that  the  Government  will  be  stronger  and 
more  just,  and  the  people  happier  and  religion  more  pros- 
perous, if  they  are  left  free  to  worship  God  according  to  the 
dictates  of  their  own  consciences,  in  an  orderly  way  and 
without  molestation. 

129.  Free  Speech  and  a  Free  Press. — The  First  Amend- 
ment also  says  that  Congress  shall  make  no  law  "abridging 
the  freedom  of  speech  or  of  the  press."  Freedom  of  speech 
and  freedom  of  the  press  mean  the  right  to  speak  or  write 
whatever  is  true;  they  do  not  mean  the  unrestricted  right  to 
speak  or  write  a  falsehood. 

A  characteristic  of  all  despotisms  where  tyranny,  and 
oppression  abound  has  been  to  lay  a  restraining  hand  on  any 
public  speaker  who  would  criticise  the  king  or  denounce  the 
cruelties  or  corruption  of  public  officials;  and  in  some  govern- 
ments at  the  time  the  Constitution  was  framed  there  were 
officers  called  censors  of  the  press  through  whose  hands  was 
required  to  pass  every  article  an  editor  desired  to  publish, 
and  they  struck  out  of  it  any  sentence  or  any  part  of  it  they 
did  not  approve.  That  is  what  is  meant  by  "abridging  the 
freedom  of  the  press."  By  the  words  in  this  amendment 
forbidding  Congress  to  make  any  law  "abridging  the  free- 
dom of  speech  and  of  the  press"  was  meant  that  Congress 
could  make  no  law  requiring  an  editor  to  obtain  the  approval 


160       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

by  a  censor  of  a  certain  article  written  by  him  before  he  could 
publish  it,  nor  any  law  authorizing  any  officer  to  restrain  any 
public  speaker  from  saying  what  his  conviction  of  right  and 
duty  may  prompt  him  to  say. 

Ours  has  been  defined  as  "a  government  by  public  dis- 
cussion." This  is  the  people's  government,  and  they  cannot 
act  intelligently  unless  they  are  informed ;  and  that  they  may 
be  informed  it  is  necessary  that  unselfish  speakers  and  editors 
and  authors  be  free  to  discuss  any  act  of  the  Government  or 
any  question  of  industry  or  morals  that  affects  the  general 
welfare.  Turning  the  light  of  truth  upon  error  is  the  best 
way  to  cure  it.  Public  wrongs  can  be  corrected  if  speakers 
and  editors  are  free  to  tell  the  truth  about  them. 

But  all  that  does  not  mean  that  an  editor  may  write  or 
a  citizen  may  speak  a  wicked  falsehood  with  the  same  free- 
dom he  can  speak  the  truth.  The  editor  can  write  and  pub- 
lish what  he  pleases,  and  the  citizen  can  say  what  he  pleases; 
if  what  he  writes  or  speaks  is  true,  he  cannot  be  punished; 
but  if  it  is  false,  the  injured  party  has  a  remedy.  So  while 
he  is  free  to  write  or  speak,  yet  if  he  abuses  that  freedom  by 
writing  or  speaking  things  that  are  vicious  and  untrue  he  may 
be  brought  to  account. 

Malicious  falsehoods  spoken  of  another  are  slander;  if 
written  or  printed  of  another,  they  are  libel.  If  the  speech 
of  a  citizen  or  the  writings  of  a  publisher  are  so  indecent  as 
to  be  slanderous  or  libelous,  he  may  be  sued  for  damages, 
and  in  extreme  cases  fined  and  imprisoned.  But  unless  one's 
speech  or  writing  disturbs  another's  peace,  or  is  so  indecent 
and  false  as  to  amount  to  malicious  libel,  or  is  obscene,  the 
courts'will  not  punish  him  for  crime,  but  will  permit  the  party 
injured  by  the  falsehood  to  seek  redress  for  the  wrong  done 
him  by  a  suit  for  damages.  Moreover,  if  the  book  or  paper 
or  letter  is  so  indecent  as  to  corrupt  public  morals,  or  such  a 
base  humbug  as  to  deceive  and  defraud  the  public,  or  so  in- 


POWERS  DENIED  TO  THE  UNITED  STATES.  161 

flammable  as  to  excite  them  to  disorders,  Congress  will  deny 
it  the  use  of  the  mails. 

130.  Peaceable  Assembly  and  Petition. — The  First 
Amendment  further  says  that  Congress  shall  make  no  law 
abridging  "the  right  of  the  people  peaceably  to  assemble, 
and  to  petition  the  Government  for  a  redress  of  grievances.'* 
The  people  do  not  have  to  ask  permission  of  their  officers  to 
peaceably  assemble.  They  can  do  so  without  {permission 
from  any  one.  That  is  a  right  they  have  resers-ed  for  them- 
selves, and  no  one  can  take  it  from  them.  Not  only  can  they 
assemble ;  they  can  also  remonstrate  in  an  orderly  way  against 
the  action  of  their  officers,  and  they  always  have  the  right  to 
petition  the  Government  for  redress  of  grievances.  Those 
rights  inhere  in  the  people  wherever  there  is  freedom.  Of 
course,  the  Government  (state  or  national)  may  disperse  a 
mob  or  a  disorderly  crowd,  but  so  long  as  assemblies  are 
peaceable  and  orderly  and  do  not  interfere  with  the  rights  of 
others  no  officer  has  any  right  to  interfere  with  them. 

Freedom  of  speech,  freedom  of  the  press,  freedom  of 
assemblage  and  freedom  of  religion  are  some  of  the  tests  by 
which  a  people's  liberties  may  be  measured;  but  they  are  all 
to  be  enjoyed  within  the  limits  set  out  in  the  last  three  sec- 
tions. Thomas  Jefferson  said  that  "error  of  opinion  may  be 
tolerated  where  reason  is  left  free  to  combat  it,"  and  it  is  in 
order  that  reason  may  freely  combat  any  error  that  freedom 
to  speak  and  to  wTite  and  to  worship  and  to  peaceably 
assemble  has  been  guaranteed  to  us.  The  purpose  of  that 
freedom  is  that  error  may  be  abandoned,  that  the  abuses  of 
government  may  be  corrected,  and  not  that  government  may 
be  destroyed,  or  disorder  encouraged,  or  officers  maligned,  or 
private  persons  slandered,  or  the  public  scandalized. 

131.  Reserved  Powers. — The  Tenth  Amendment  is: 
"The  powers  not  delegated  to  the  United  States  by  the  Con- 
stitution, nor  prohibited  by  it  to  the  States,  are  reserved  to 

the  States  respectively  or  to  the  people."     The  Government 
c.  G.-U 


162       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

of  the  United  States  is  one  of  enumerated  powers.  These 
powers  are  enumerated  or  expressed  in  the  Constitution.  The 
Government  has  no  other  powers.  AH  other  governmental 
powers  have  been  reserved  to  the  people  or  to  the  States.  The 
people  may  sometime,  by  amendment  of  the  Constitution, 
greatly  enlarge  the  powers  of  the  President  or  of  Congress,  but 
always  and  under  every  circumstance  the  powers  of  the  Govern- 
ment are  limited  by  the  Constitution  and  amendments  thereto. 
The  Government  is  under  the  same  obligation  to  refrain  from 
trespassing  upon  the  powers  retained  by  the  States  that  the 
States  are  to  submit  to  the  authority  they  have  delegated  to 
the  Union.  Neither  has  the  right  to  deny  the  powers  of  the 
other.  Our  dual  form  of  government — by  the  States  and  by 
a  Union  of  States — answers  the  needs  of  the  people  for  gov- 
ernment and  conserves  the  peace  of  society  far  better  than 
either  alone  could  do  it. 

Questions  on  Chapter  XIII. 

1.  Discuss  the  affirmative  and  negative  powers  of  Congress.     (119) 

2.  What  does  the  Constitution  say  about  the  slave  trade?     (119a) 

3.  What  is  further  said  about  that  provision?     (119a) 

4.  What  does  the  Constitution  say  about  habeas  corpus?     (120) 

5.  What  do  these  words  mean  and  what  is  the  writ?     (120) 

6.  In  former  times  how  were  men  arrested  and  held?     (120) 

7.  Could  such  things  occur  in  our  country?     (120) 

8.  Suppose  no  warrant  or  complaint  is  filed  against  an  arrested 

person?     (120) 

9.  Name  some  of  the  things  for  which  the  writ  is  a  remedy?  (120) 

10.  What  is  the  great  purpose  of  the  writ?     (120) 

11.  What  is  a  bill  of  attainder?     Why  unfair?     (121) 

12.  What  is  an  ex  post  facto  law?     Why  is  it  unfair?     (121) 

13.  Could  such  a  bill  or  law  be  enforced?     Why?     (121) 

14.  Can  Congress  or  a  State  lay  an  export  tax?     (122) 

15.  What  about  preference  in  the  regulation  of  commerce  or  revenue? 

(123) 

16.  How  can  Congress  aid  and -cripple  commerce?     (123) 

17.  Will  one  port  naturally  require  more  aid  than  another?     (123) 

18.  How  should  Congress  act  in  all  things?     (123) 

19.  Is  there  free  trade  among  the  States?     (124) 


POWERS  DENIED  TO  THE  STATES.  163 

20.  What  clause  of  the  Constitution  guarantees  it?     (124) 

21.  Does  that  clause  apply  to  island  possessions?     (124) 

22.  How  may  money  be  paid  out  of  the  Treasury?     (125) 

23.  Can  Congress  or  the  President  confer  titles  of  nobility?     (126) 

24.  Can  American  officers  accept  them  from  other  nations?     (126' 

25.  Can  an  officer  accept  presents  from  another  nation?     (127) 

26.  What  is  the  meaning  of  this  provision?     (127) 

27.  What  does  the  Constitution  say  about  freedom  of  religion? 

(128) 

28.  What  does  this  provision  prohibit  and  what  does  it  mean?     (128) 

29.  What  does  this  Constitution  say  about  freedom  of  speech  and 

of  the  press?     (128) 

30.  What  do  freedom  of  speech  and  of  the  press  mean?     (129) 

31.  What  do  they  not  mean?     (129) 

32.  What  does  "abridging  the  freedom  of  speech  and  press"  mean? 

(129) 

33.  Why  does  such  freedom  seem  necessary?     (129) 

34.  Is    this  an  unrestricted  freedom  for  either  editor  or  speaker? 

(129) 

35.  What  are  the  penalties  for  slander  and  libel?     (129) 

36.  What  does  the  Constitution  say  about  assemblage  and  petition? 

(128) 

37.  Have  the  people  the  right  to  peaceably  assemble  and  remonstrate 

against  grievances?     (130) 

38.  What  are  some  of  the  tests  of  a  people's  liberties?     (130) 

39.  How  are  they  to  be  enjoyed?     (130) 

40.  What  is  the  purpose  of  those  privileges?     (130) 

41.  What  is  the  tenth  amendment?     (131) 

42.  What  powers  has  the  Government?     (131) 

43.  Under  what  mutual  obligation  is  the  Government  and  States? 

(131) 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

POWERS  DENIED  TO  THE  STATES. 

132.  Powers  to  Make  Treaties. — ^AU  powers  that  must 
of  necessity  concern  the  whole  nation  are  denied  to  the 
States. 

Thus  we  have  seen  in  section  50  that  treaties  may  relate 
to  a  settlement  of  the  national  boundary  or  the  terms  upon 


164       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

which  trade  may  be  carried  on  between  citizens  of  this  country 
and  foreign  countries.  One  can  readily  see  how  the  internal 
peace  and  harmony  of  the  country  could  be  disturbed  if 
the  Union  should  insist  on  a  certain  line  as  the  boundary 
and  a  State  had  the  power  to  fix  upon  another  line.  If 
in  settling  the  boundary  line  between  the  United  States 
and  the  Spanish  possessions  in  America,  the  Union  had  agreed 
that  it  should  be  the  Rio  Grande  and  the  State  of  Louisiana 
had  had  power  to  agree  that  it  might  be  the  Sabine  and  Red 
rivers,  troublesome  confusion  would  have  arisen.  And  sup- 
pose that,  although  Congress  under  its  power  to  levy  imposts 
had  fixed  a  tariff  charge  at  certain  rates,  a  State  had  power 
by  treaty  to  agree  with  other  nations  that  so  much  of  their 
goods  as  came  to  its  ports  should  enter  free,  and  then  under 
the  clause  which  guarantees  absolute  free  trade  between  the 
States  it  began  to  ship  those  goods  all  over  the  Union:  the 
result  would  be  that  the  law  passed  by  Congress  would  break 
down,  and  the  Union  itself  would  prove  a  useless  thing.  To 
avoid  any  such  results  the.  Constitution  (Art.  1,  sec.  10,  cl. 
1)  says  that  "no  State  shall  enter  into  any  treaty,  alliance  or 
confederation."  The  power  to  make  treaties  is  vested  solely 
in  the  President  and  Senate. 

133.  General  Welfare  Provisions. — ^The  Preamble  de- 
clares that  one  of  the  purposes  of  forming  the  Union  was  to 
"promote  the  general  welfare.'*  In  keeping  with  that  pur- 
pose the  Constitution  denies  to  each  State  the  power  to  coin 
money,  to  emit  bills  of  credit  to  do  duty  as  money,  or  to 
make  anything  except  gold  and  silver  coin  a  tender  in  pay- 
ment of  debts.  It  is  easy  to  see  that  business  transactions 
are  greatly  facilitated  by  uniform  money  for  the  whole  Union, 
and  this  clause  makes  it  impossible  for  any  State,  by  issuing 
different  coins  or  moneys  of  its  own  devising,  to  bring  con- 
fusion into  the  monetary  system  provided  by  Congress. 

So,  also,  it  will  readily  be  seen  that  foreign  commerce 
^p.ujd  be  in  endless  confusion  if  each  State-could  impose  im- 


POWERS  DENIED  TO  THE  STATES.  165 

port  taxes  different  from  those  laid  by  Congress,  and  for  that 
reason  "no  State  shall,  without  the  consent  of  Congress,  lay- 
any  imposts  or  duties  on  imports  or  exports,  except  what  may 
be  absolutely  necessary  for  executing  its  inspection  laws," 
and  we  have  seen  in  section  67c  that  by  "its  inspection  laws" 
is  meant  laws  and  regulations  for  the  public  health  and  safety. 
Thus  we  see  that  the  purposes  of  these  inhibitions  on 
the  powers  of  the  States  were  not  to  humiliate  them,  or  take 
from  them  any  power  many  of  them  would  ever  wish  to  ex- 
ercise, but  to  so  unify  the  moneys  of  the  country  that  "com- 
merce among  the  States"  would  be  easy,  and  to  make  so  uni- 
form the  impost  taxes  that  one  State  would  not  be  con- 
stantly trying  to  build  up  its  own  trade  and  wealth  at  the 
expense  of  another. 

134.  Impairment  of  Contracts. — "No  State  shall  .... 
pass  any  law  impairing  the  obligation  of  contracts."  These 
are  simple  words,  yet  so  perverse  is  human  nature  that 
no  other  clause  in  the  Constitution  has  so  often  been  in- 
voked or  disregarded.  They  mean  that  when  one  enters 
into  a  contract,  no  State  can  do  the  immoral  thing  of  helping 
him  to  break  it.  Contracts  underlie  the  whole  framework 
of  modern  industry.  The  prosperity  of  all  persons  depends 
on  the  faithful  keeping  of  contracts.  No  State  can  relieve 
itself  of  its  own  contracts  with  private  citizens,  or  relieve  its 
citizens  of  their  contracts  with  each  other,  or  with  citizens  of 
other  States,  nor  can  the  United  States  do  so.  A  town  may 
issue  its  bonds  to  pay  for  an  electric  light  plant,  and  those 
bonds  it  must  pay;  it  cannot  refuse  to  pay  them  because  after 
a  few  years  it  ceased  to  use  the  lights ;  nor  can  the  Legislature 
or  the  town  council  excuse  the  town  from  paying  them  if 
they  were  lawfully  issued.  Of  course,  no  one  is  compelled 
to  keep  an  unlawful  contract;  and  a  contract  obtained  by 
cheating  or  taking  advantage  of  another's  weakness  or  lack 
of  knowledge,  or  by  falsehood  and  false  representation  not 
known  to  be  false,  is  an  ufilawful  contract.     This  clause  of  the 


166       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Constitution  means  that  no  State,  no  person,  not  even  the 
United  States,  can  repudiate  a  lawful  contract  legally  entered 
into.  It  means  that  when  you  solemnly  agree  with  another 
person  to  do  a  thing  which  the  law  permits  to  be  done,  the 
law  will  compel  you,  at  that  other  person's  request,  to  keep 
and  perform  your  agreement.  It  would  seem  that  every 
good  person  would  do  this,  without  any  law.  But  many  per- 
sons are  unwilling  to  pay  their  debts,  or  do  many  other  things 
they  have  agreed  to  do,  and  therefore  the  law  not  only  says 
that  they  must  fulfill  their  contracts,  but  the  Constitution 
says  that  no  State  can  pass  a  law  relieving  them  from  that 
obligation. 

136.  The  State  and  Nation. — No  State  is  a  nation. 
**No  State,  without  the  consent  of  Congress,  shall  keep 
troops  or  ships  of  war  in  times  of  peace,  enter  into  any  agree- 
ment or  compact  with  another  State,  or  with  a  foreign  power, 
or  engage  in  war  unless  actually  invaded,  or  in  such  immi- 
nent danger  as  will  admit  of  no  delay."  A  government  that 
cannot  do  these  things  is  not  a  nation.  A  State  is  almost 
supreme  in  the  control  of  its  internal  affairs,  and  in  managing 
them  few  things  are  denied  to  it  by  the  Constitution ;  besides, 
it  can  do  anything  which  it  is  not  specifically  prohibited  by  the 
Constitution  from  doing,  and  the  things  it  is  prohibited  from 
doing  nearly  all  relate  to  external  matters — to  its  relations 
with  other  States  or  nations. 

(1)  The  State  cannot  have  a  navy  in  times  of  peace  nor 
maintain  a  standing  army  except  by  consent  of  Congress. 
The  Union,  by  the  Constitution,  was  made  to  shoulder  all  the 
external  troubles  of  a  State.  It  was  given  power  to  "repel 
invasions,"  and  to  raise  armies,  maintain  a  navy  and  call 
forth  the  militia  for  that  purpose,  and  therefore  there  is  no 
need  for  a  State  to  "keep  troops  or  ships  of  war  in  times  of 
peace." 

(2)  Congress  is  given  power  "to  declare  war;"  it  would 
be  destructive  of  all  national  peace  and  harmony  if  any 


r 


POWERS  DENIED  TO  THE  STATES.  167 

State,  without  consulting  the  others,  could  ''engage  in  war." 
If  a  State  could  do  that,  one  turbulent  State  could  constantly 
be  involving  all  the  others  in  trouble. 

(3)  The  Union  is  given  power  "to  make  treaties"  and 
"to  regulate  commerce  with  foreign  nations  and  among  the 
States,"  and  therefore  as  to  such  matters  there  is  no  necessity 
for  one  State  to  enter  into  an  "agreement  or  compact  with 
another  State  or  with  a  foreign  power."  Two  adjoining 
States  have  been  known  to  enter  into  agreements  as  to  their 
relative  boundaries.  Thus,  when  Kentucky  became  a  State, 
both  she  and  Virginia  claimed  a  wide  strip  of  country  along 
the  Cumberland  Mountains  and  the  Big  Sandy  River,  and 
the  matter  was  settled  by  each  State  appointing  commission- 
ers to  locate  the  dividing  line,  and  when  they  agreed  thereon 
the  Legislature  of  each  State  adopted  their  agreement,  and 
thus  by  compact  with  each  other  nearly  all  the  disputed  lands 
were  agreed  to  belong  to  Kentucky.  This  was  in  fact  an 
agreement  or  compact,  but  it  was  not  such  a  one  as  is  meant 
by  this  clause  of  the  Constitution ;  it  was  rather  a  peaceable 
attempt  to  ascertain  what  portions  of  the  land  belonged  to 
each  State,  and  to  definitely  fix  the  dividing  line,  so  that  the 
inhabitants  there  might  know  to  which  State  they  were  to 
look  for  protection  in  the  enjoyment  of  their  property  and 
civil  rights.  These  words  of  the  Constitution  mean  that 
"no  State  shall  enter  into  an  agreement  or  compact  with 
another  State  or  with  a  foreign  power"  to  subvert  the  au- 
thority of  the  Union,  or  nullify  its  laws,  or  to  gain  advan- 
tage for  itself  because  of  their  weakness.  They  mean  that 
Pennsylvania  cannot  agree  with  Canada  to  sell  her  coal  in 
exchange  for  pine  lumber,  in  defiance  of  the  tariff  laws  of 
Congress;  they  mean  that  Missouri  could  not  agree  with 
Illinois  and  the  other  States  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  that  no 
naturalized  Italians  shall  ever  settle  within  their  borders,  or 
that  they  will  trade  with  each  other  alone  and  with  no  other 
States.     They  mean,  in  short,  that  no  State  can  ever  enter 


168       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

into  a  compact  with  another  to  do  any  of  those  things 
which  the  Constitution  clearly  says  Congress  shall  have 
power  to  do. 

All  the  things  that  are  by  this  clause  denied  to  the  States 
are  the  things  that  always  belong  to  a  nation.  A  nation, 
whether  it  be  a  republic  or  a  monarchy,  always  has  power 
to  make  treaties,  to  regulate  foreign  commerce,  to  raise 
armies,  levy  import  taxes  and  maintain  navies.  The  Gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States  can  do  these  things,  and  there- 
fore it  is  a  nation.  The  States  cannot  do  them ;  they  are  not 
nations.  We  see  from  this  how  anxious  the  American  people 
were  "to  form  a  more  perfect  Union,"  when  they  voluntarily 
adopted  a  Constitution  that  took  from  the  States  all  possi- 
bility of  doing  these  things,  which  each  might  have  tried  to 
do  for  itself  had  there  been  no  Union.  But  without  a  sur- 
render of  those  things  there  would  have  been  no  Union,  and' 
without  the  Union  no  State  would  have  attained  the  majestic 
peace  and  firm  prosperity  it  now  enjoys.  These  things  were 
wisely  committed  to  the  Union,  and  denied  to  the  States. 
The  Union  can  do  them  better  than  the  States,  and  therefore 
the  States  should  not  undertake  to  do  them  at  all.  If  both 
the  Union  and  the  individual  States  could  do  such  things 
there  would  not  only  be  a  clash  of  authority,  but  a  divided 
authority.  A  divided  authority  is  almost  the  same  as  no 
authority.  Final  authority  must  be  lodged  somewhere,  and 
final  authority  to  act  upon  all  subjects  that  must  necessarily 
concern  all  the  people  of  the  country  should  be  lodged  in  the 
Union,  and  that  is  what  this  clause  of  the  Constitution  means, 

136.  Slavery  Prohibited. — ^Slavery  at  one  time  or 
another  existed  in  all  the  thirteen  original  colonies.  At  the 
time  the  Constitution  was  adopted  it  was  being  abandoned 
in  a  few  of  them,  but  its  abolition  was  still  a  tender  subject, 
even  in  them,  for  while  their  inhabitants  did  not  own  or  use 
slaves  oji  their  own  properties,  they  were  still  considerable 
shippers  of  them  to  those  States  whose  inhabitants  would 


I 


POWERS  DENIED  TO  THE  STATES.  169 

buy  and  use  them.  Nothing  was  said  about  the  abolition  of 
slavery  by  the  Convention  that  framed  the  Constitution. 
It  was  assumed  by  its  framers  that  each  State  had  the  right 
to  determine  for  itself  whether  slavery  should  be  continued 
within  its  borders.  They  did  consider  that  Congress  had  the 
right  to.  put  a  stop  to  what  was  called  "the  African  slave 
trade,"  by  which  was  meant  the  capturing  of  men  and  women 
in  Africa  and  bringing  them  to  America  and  selling  them  into 
slavery,  for  that  traffic  was  foreign  commerce,  and  the  Con- 
stitution gave  Congress  complete  control  over  foreign  com- 
merce; but  even  that  trade  the  Convention  felt  impelled  to 
tolerate  for  a  time,  for  the  Constitution  contained  a  provision 
that  Congress  must  not  prohibit  the  importation  of  slaves 
prior  to  1808,  and  declared  (Art.  V)  that  this  provision  should 
not  be  amended  until  after  that  date.  But  it  made  no 
reference  to  the  slavery  then  existing  in  most  of  the  States, 
and  if  it  had  contained  a  provision  for  its  extermination  it 
is  likely  it  would  never  have  been  adopted.  But  as  the 
national  domain  extended  westward  and  new  States  were 
formed,  opposition  to  slavery  grew.  For  a  long  time  its 
opponents  only  contended  that  Congress  should  exclude  it 
from  all  new  States  as  they  were  formed,  but  in  time  the  cry 
arose  that  it  should  be  abolished  in  those  old  States  in  which 
it  had  always  existed.  The  contentions  over  the  right  of 
each  State  to  determine  for  itself  whether  or  not  slavery 
should  exist  within  its  boundaries  stirred  the  country  into 
angry  passion,  and  had  much  to  do  with  bringing  on  the  Civil 
War.  At  its  close,  the  Thirteenth  Amendment  was  adopted, 
and  was  proclaimed  ratified  on  December  18,  1865.  It  de- 
clared that  ''neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude, 
except  as  a  punishment  for  crime  whereof  the  party  shall 
have  been  duly  convicted,  shall  exist  in  the  United  States 
or  any  place  subject  to  their  jurisdiction."  Slavery  can  now 
exist  in  no  part  of  the  United  States,  or  in  any  Territory  or 
in  any  island  or  other  possession  belonging  to  the  United 


170       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

States.  Its  final  abolition  removed  the  most  serious  conflict 
that  ever  existed  between  the  States  and  the  Union,  and  now 
their  relations  promise  only  peace  and  harmony  for  the  future. 
Of  course  this  amendment  does  not  prevent  a  State  from 
punishing  a  person  who  has  been  convicted  of  a  crime,  by 
compelling  him  to  work  on  streets  or  public  roads  or  in  a 
prison.  But  it  does  prohibit  a  State  from  enacting  a  law 
authorizing  one  person  to  own  another,  or  to  compel  any 
adult  who  has  not  been  convicted  of  a  crime  to  work  against 
his  will.  Some  dishonorable  persons  will  not  keep  their  con- 
tracts to  work  for  another,  and  there  is  no  lawful  way  by  which 
they  can  be  compelled  to  keep  them;  they  cannot  be  coerced 
or  forced  into  fulfilling  their  agreements.  The  employer's 
only  remedy  is  to  sue  them  for  damages  for  a  breach  of  con- 
tract, and  recover  a  judgment  for  the  amount  of  damage  he 
has  sustained,  and  then  have  the  sheriff  or  other  court  officer 
sell  so  much  of  their  property  as  will  pay  that  judgment. 
But  that  course  is  often  no  remedy  at  all,  for  such  persons 
rarely  have  any  property  that  can  be  seized  by  the  sheriff. 

137.  Equality  of  Suffrage.— The  Fifteenth  Amendment, 
proclaimed  ratified  March  30,  1870,  is  in  these  words:  ''The 
right  of  citizens  of  the  United  States  to  vote  shall  not  be 
denied  or  abridged  by  the  United  States,  or  by  any  State, 
on  account  of  race,  color,  or  previous  condition  of  servitude." 
This  amendment  was  made  to  secure  to  former  slaves  and  their 
decendants  the  right  to  vote.  In  some  States,  however, 
legislatures  have  adopted  an  educational  qualification  for 
voting,  and  such  tests  are  not  in  conflict  with  this  amendment. 
It  does  not  confer  the  right  to  vote  on  any  one.  It  simply 
says  that  neither  the  State  nor  the  United  States  can  deny 
to  a  citizen  that  right  because  .of  his  color,  race  or  previous 
condition  of  servitude.  The  State  can  deny  to  its  citizens 
the  right  to  vote  on  any  other  valid  ground;  but  it  cannot 
enact  an  election  law  that  discriminates  against  any  citizen 
because  of  his  color. 


POWERS  DENIED  TO  THE  STATES.  171 

138.  Equality  of  Citizenship. — The  Fifteenth  Amend- 
ment does  not  confer  the  right  to  vote  upon  any  one.  It 
simply  says  that  the  right  to  vote  cannot  be  denied  to  any 
citizen  because  of  his  race  or  color.  But  it  was  once  thought 
that  each  State  would  be  induced  by  certain  provisions  of 
the  Fourteenth  Amendment  to  confer  the  right  to  vote  on 
all  male  citizens  twenty-one  years  of  age.  That  amendment 
says  that  ''when  the  right  to  vote  is  denied  to  any  male 
citizen  twenty-one  years  of  age,  except  for  crime,  the  number 
of  Representatives  which  the  State  shall  have  in  Congress 
and  the  number  of  electoral  votes  which  it  shall  have  for 
President  shall  be  reduced  in  the  proportion  which  the  number 
of  male  citizens  thus  denied  the  right  to  vote  shall  bear  to 
the  whole  number  of  male  citizens  twenty-one  years  of  age 
in  the  State."  It  was  thought  that  rather  than  run  the  risk 
of  having  the  number  of  its  Representatives  in  Congress  re- 
duced, and  of  losing  some  of  its  electoral  votes  for  President, 
a  State  would  always  grant  to  every  male  citizen,  except 
those  convicted  of  crime,  the  right  to  vote.  But  this  pro- 
vision has  never  been  enforced,  for  two  reasons:  (1)  To 
enforce  it  would  take  away  from  the  State  the  power  to 
say  that  every  voter  must  have  a  certain  amount  of  educa- 
tion before  he  can  yote.  To  provide  that  every  man  can 
vote  might  be  to  turn  the  State  over  to  ignorant  men  who  do 
not  have  any  intelligent  understanding  of  our  institutions. 
(2)  It  would  be  an  almost  impossible  thing  to  determine  how 
many  men  at  any  election  have  been  denied  the  right  to 
vote  because  they  cannot  read  or  for  any  other  reason.  It 
does  not  follow  that  because  a  man  has  not  voted  he  was 
denied  the  right  to  vote,  for  it  is  a  well-known  fact  that  in 
every  State  many  citizens  habitually  abstain  from  going  to 
the  polls.  So  this  part  of  the  Fourteenth  Amendment,  it  has 
been  found,  does  not  force  the  States  to  confer  the  right  to 
vote  upon  colored  citizens.  In  fact.  Congress  has  never 
yet  tried  to  enforce  it. 


172       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

But  the  Fourteenth  Amendment  went  very  much  further 
than  this.  It  declared  that:  "No  State  shall  make  or  en- 
force a  law  which  shall  abridge  the  privileges  or  immunities 
of  citizens  of  the  United  States;  nor  shall  any  State  deprive 
any  person  of  life,  liberty  or  property  without  due  process  of 
law,  nor  deny  to  any  person  within  its  jurisdiction  the  equal 
protection  of  the  laws."  It  was  once  thought  that  this  pro- 
vision gave  Congress  power  to  destroy  the  individuality  of 
the  States ;  that  it  so  centralized  power  in  the  Union  that  the 
political  independence  of  the  States  was  wholly  at  the  mercy 
of  Congress.  But  the  Supreme  Court  in  numerous  decisions 
has  shown  that  such  is  not  the  fact.  It  does  not  give  Con- 
gress power  to  regulate  the  conduct  of  private  citizens.  It 
does  not  give  Congress  authority  to  compel  any  citizen  to 
receive  other  citizens  on  terms  of  social  equality,  or  to  receive 
both  white  and  colored  persons  as  guests  at  his  hotel  or 
theatre;  nor  does  it  deny  to  him  the  right  to  refuse' to  employ 
other  citizens  because  of  their  color.  It  simply  prohibits 
the  State  from  doing  certain  things.  A  State  acts  through  its 
legislature  or  its  courts  or  its  officers,  and  this  amendment 
prohibits  them  from  denying  to  its  citizens  the  equal  protec- 
tion of  its  laws.  Its  laws  must  apply  to  all  persons  alike. 
The  State,  as  such,  cannot  enact  a  law  that  specifically  dis- 
criminates against  one  class  of  citizens.  The  Supreme  Court 
has  held  that  this  part  of  this  amendment  simply  means  that 
no  State,  in  enacting  and  enforcing  its  laws,  can  discriminate 
among  its  citizens  because  of  their  race  or  color;  but  that  it 
does  not  prohibit  the  people  of  a  State  from  so  discriminating 
among  themselves. 

Questions  on  Chapter  XIV. 

1.  What  powers  are  denied  to  the  States?     (132) 

2.  What  might  be  the  effect  if  both  a  State  and  the  Union  could 

make  treaties?     (132) 

3.  What  the  effect,  if  both  could  fix  tariff  rates?     (132) 

4.  What  does  the  Constitution  say  on  this  subject?     (132) 


POWERS  DENIED  TO  THE  STATES.  173 

5.  What  other  powers  are  denied  to  the  States?     (133) 

6.  What  might  be  the  effect  if  a  State  could  coin  money?     (133) 

7.  What  does  the  Constitution  say  of  the  State's  power  to  levy 

imposts?     (133) 

8.  What  were  the  purposes  of  these  inhibitions?     (133) 

9.  What   does  the   Constitution   say   about   impairment   of   con- 

tracts?    (134) 

10.  What  do  these  words  mean?     (134) 

11.  Is  a  State  a  nation?     Why?     (135) 

12.  Can  a  State  have  an  army  or  navy?     (135) 

13.  Can  a  State  declare  war?     (135) 

14.  Can  a  State  enter  into  a  treaty  or  compact  with  another  State 

or  foreign  nation?     (135) 

15.  What  do  these  words  of  the  Constitution  mean?     (135) 

16.  What  things  then  are  denied  to  the  States?     (135) 

17.  What  was  the  attitude  of  the  framers  of  the  Constitution  to- 

wards slavery?     (136) 

18.  Trace  the  growth  of  opposition  to  slavery.     (136) 

19.  What  is  the  language  and  meaning  of  the  13th  Amendment? 

(136) 

20.  What  did  the  fifteenth  amendment  say  about  the  right  to  vote? 

(137) 

21.  Why  was  it  made?     (137) 

22.  Is  an  educational  qualification  for  voting  prohibited  by  it?  (137) 

23.  On  what  ground  cannot  a  State  withhold  the  right  to  vote? 

(137) 

24.  Why  was  it  supposed  that  each  State  would  confer  this  right 

on  all  male  citizens?     (138) 

25.  Why  has  not  this  amendment  been  enforced?     (138) 

26.  What  further  did  that  amendment  provide?     (138) 

27.  What  was  it  once  feared  that  this  provision  did?     (138) 

28.  Was  that  a  fact?     (138) 

29.  Does  it  guarantee  social  equality  to  private  citizens?     (138) 

30.  What  does  it  do?     (138) 

31.  How  does  a  State  act?     (138) 

32.  How  must  a  law  apply?     (138) 

33.  Can  a  State  discriminate  against  one  class  of  citizens?     (138) 


174       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THE  PRE  SIDENT. 

139.  The  Chief  Executive. — We  now  turn  for  two 
chapters  from  the  legislative  to  the  executive  department 
of  the  Government.  The  Constitution  says  that  "the  execu- 
tive power  shall  be  vested  in  the  President  of  the  United  States 
of  America."  It  mentions  no  other  officer;  it  names  only  the 
President.  It  is  necessary  to  note  at  the  outset  of  the  dis- 
cussion that  it  says  that  the  executive  power  of  the  nation 
is  vested  in  him,  which  means  that  it  is  vested  in  him  alone. 
By  so  doing,  one  will  have  a  clearer  understanding  of  what 
is  further  said  in  this  and  the  next  chapter. 

Congress  passes  laws  prescribing  how  the  affairs  of  the 
Government  shall  be  conducted,  and  the  officers  who  conduct 
those  affairs  are  executive  officers.  They  execute  what  the 
law  prescribes  or  the  courts  direct  to  be  done.  They  are 
called  executive  officers  for  that  reason.  The  power  to 
originate  is  in  Congress;  the  power  to  carry  out  is  in  the 
executive  officers.  Congress  by  enacting  a  law  marks  out 
a  governmental  policy;  the  carrying  out  of  that  policy  is  an 
executive  matter. 

The  chief  executive  officer  is  the  President;  in  fact,  all 
executive  power  is  lodged  in  him,  and  all  other  executive 
officers  are  simply  his  assistants  or  representatives.  They 
are  all  appointed  by  him,  or  by  other  officers  who  have  them- 
selves been  appointed  by  him,  and  are  all  under  his  control 
and  subject  to  his  direction;  and  while  the  most  of  them  are 
appointed  for  a  term  of  four  years,  yet  for  improper  conduct 
he  may  remove  them  at  any-  time,  and  in  some  cases  he 
may  determine  their  conduct  to  be  improper  without  giving 
any  reason  therefor,  either  to  the  officer  or  to  the  public. 


THE  PRESIDENT.  175 

This  applies  to  all  higher  executive  officers  and  to  almost 
all  others,  except  purely  public  service  employees,  such  as 
postal  clerks  and  mail  carriers  and  most  department  clerks, 
whose  connection  with  the  Government  is  simply  that  of 
employment,  and  who,  in  late  years,  have  been  protected 
from  being  discharged  from  such  service  on  the  election  of 
another  President  by  a  series  of  laws  called  Civil  Service 
regulations.  Such  employees  can  hold  their  places  so  long 
as  they  do  their  work  well  and  behave  themselves. 

But  the  conduct  of  many  executive  officers  reflects  the 
principles  of  the  President.  They  should  therefore  be  in 
harmony  with  him,  and  unless  they  are  he  can  remove  them. 

Of  all  executive  officers  the  President  alone  (and  of 
course  the  Vice-President)  is  elected  by  the  people;  all  others 
are  appointed.  It  is  not  so  in  the  States.  In  most  of  the 
States  all  the  higher  executive  officers  are  elected.  But  no 
other  executive  officer  of  the  United  States  except  the  Presi- 
dent can  ever  be  elected  so  long  as  this  clause  of  the  Con- 
stitution remains  unchanged — the  clause  that  says  "the  ex- 
ecutive power  shall  be  vested  in  the  President."  If  that 
power  is  vested  in  him  he  must  have  the  right  to  say  who  shall 
act  in  his  stead  in  executing  it.  He  cannot  perform  all  ex- 
ecutive duties  himself;  the  work  is  too  much  for  one  man. 
He  must  have  many  assistants  to  act  in  his  stead.  It  would 
be  clearly  unjust  to  hold  him  responsible  for  failure  to  require 
an  executive  duty  to  be  performed  in  a  satisfactory  way  and 
yet  not  give  him  power  to  say  who  those  assistants  shall  be. 
All  other  executive  officers  are  the  President's  arm,  and  he 
must  have  an  unshackled  arm,  and  that  means  that  he  must 
have  the  right  to  appoint  other  executive  officers  in  harmony 
with  himself,  and  remove  them  whenever  he  believes  they 
are  trying  to  discredit  him  or  the  public  good  demands  their 
removal. 

But  the  President  does  not  have  an  unlimited  power  of 
appointment.     All  his  important  appointments  must  be  ap- 


176       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

proved  by  the  Senate.  It  can  reject  any  of  them  at  will. 
The  Senate,  therefore,  always  stands  between  him  and  the 
people,  and  if  he  should  be  indifferent  to  their  rights  it  can 
check  him.  This  is  a  wise  provision.  It  not  only  enables 
him  to  test  public  sentiment;  it  forces  him  to  be  regardful  of 
the  people's  interests  and  wishes. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  subjects  both  President  and  Sena- 
tors to  a  political  dicker.  The  dicker  would  be  that  they  will 
agree  to  support  certain  bills  which  he  wishes  to  become  laws, 
if  he  in  return  will  agree  to  appoint  certain  men  to  office 
whom  they  recommend.  In  that  way  the  President  may 
exercise  great  influence  over  legislation  and  the  Senate  have 
much  to  do  with  executive  affairs.  This  is  frequently  a  hurt- 
ful thing.  Such  political  dickerings  have  more  than  once 
become  national  scandals,  and  violent  political  quarrels 
have  grown  out  of  the  President's  refusal  to  be  dictated  to 
by  the  Senate,  or  the  Senate's  resentment  of  the  President's 
intermeddling  with  legfslative  matters.  These  jarrings  be- 
tween the  President  and  Senators  are  not  hurtful  if  both 
are  animated  with  a  supreme  desire  to  promote  the  public 
good;  but  contentions  or  bargains  that  grow  out  of  a  desire 
solely  to  promote  the  interests  of  a  political  party  or  to  advance 
the  political  fortunes  of  a  Senator  or  of  the  President  are  not 
only  hurtful,  but  often  prostitute  the  purposes  of  government. 

It  should  never  be  forgotten  in  this  country  that  all 
government — whether  national  or  state  or  county  or  city  or 
school — is  for  the  good  of  the  people,  and  must  be  conducted 
solely  for  their  welfare,  and  if  those  they  elect  to  office  will  not 
use  their  offices  in  the  people's  interest  they  should  turn 
them  out  and  elect  others  in  their  stead.  At  the  s^me  time  the 
people  should  be  just,  and  when  they  get  a  faithful  public 
servant  they  should  be  glad  to  honor  him  with  their  votes. 

140.  Term  of  Office. — The  President  is  elected  for  a 
term  of  four  years,  beginning  on  the  fourth  day  of  March 
next  after  the  election.     He  may  be  then  re-elected  for  an- 


THE  PRESIDENT.  177 

other  term.  There  is  nothing  in  the  Constitution  which  pro- 
hibits him  from  being  elected  again  and  again.  But  no 
President  has  ever  served  longer  than  two  terms,  nor  has  one 
ever  been  nominated  for  a  third  term  by  any  party. 

141.  His    Qualifications. — He  must  be  a  natural-born, 
citizen  of  the  United  States,  at  least  thirty-five  years  old,  and 
have  been  for  fourteen  years  a  resident  within  the  United 
States.     No    foreign-born    person    can    be    President.      The 
qualifications   of   the   Vice-President   are   the  same. 

142.  Vacancy. — In  case  of  the  death  or  removal  or 
resignation  of  the  President,  the  office  devolves  on  the  Vice- 
President,  who  fills  out  the  remainder  of  his  term.  If  both 
should  die,  the  vacancy  is  filled  by  the  members  of  the  Presi- 
dent's Cabinet  in  the  order  of  their  rank,  beginning  with  the 
Secretary  of  State. 

143.  Salary. — The  President's  salary  can  not  be  in- 
creased or  diminished  during  the  period  for  which  he  was 
elected.  At  the  present  time  this  salary  is  $75,000  per  year, 
and  besides  this  amount  the  appropriations  made  for  fur- 
nishing and  supporting  the  executive  mansion  amount  to 
several  thousands  more,  but  the  President  can  retain  no  part 
of  such  appropriations. 

144.  Powers  and  Duties. — The  President  shall  be  (1) 
commander-in-chief  of  the  army  and  navy.  The  army  and 
navy  are  parts  of  the  executive  department  of  the  Govern- 
ment, and  therefore  it  is  proper  that  the  President  should  be 
their  commander. 

(2)  He  shall  have  power,  by  and  with  the  advice  and 
consent  of  the  Senate,  to  make  treaties,  provided  two- thirds 
of  the  Senators  present  concur.  The  terms  of  a  treaty  are 
first  agreed  to  by  him.  Then  the  Senate  agrees  to  so  much 
of  it  as  it  deems  best,  and  then  that  part,  if  the  other  nation 
concurs,  becomes  binding  on  both  nations.  If  the  Senate 
rejects  the  treaty  that  is  the  end  of  it.     The  President  must 

C.  G.— 12 


178       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

then  negotiate  another  or  abandon  the  matter.  The  Senate 
cannot  negotiate  a  treaty;  it  can  only  approve  or  reject  or 
amend  the  treaty  the  President  has  negotiated. 

(3) '  He  shall  appoint  ambassadors,  ministers,  consuls, 
judges  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  all  other  officers  of  the 
United  States  whose  appointment  is  not  otherwise  provided 
for,  but  such  appointments  must  be  made  by  and  with  the 
advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate;  that  is,  they  must  be  con- 
firmed by  that  body  to  be  valid;  and  Congress,  by  law,  may 
vest  the  appointment  of  inferior  officers  in  the  President 
alone,  in  the  heads  of  departments,  or  in  the  courts;  and,  it 
has  invested  the  heads  of  departments  with  the  appointment 
of  a  great  many  and  the  courts  with  the  appointment  of  a 
very  few.  All  executive  officers,  except  those  appointed  in 
the  recess  of  the  Senate,  are  commissioned  for  four  years, 
but  they  hold  over  after  the  four-year  period  has  expired  until 
their  successors  are  appointed  and  qualified,  and  by  "qualified" 
is  meant  that  the  appointee  has  been  commissioned  by  the 
President  (that  is,  a  certificate  which  is  his  title  paper  to 
the  office  has  been  signed  and  issued  by  the  President),  and 
has  given  whatever  bond  the  law  requires,  and  has  taken 
an  official  oath,  which  is  usually  to  support  the  Constitution 
and  obey  the  laws  and  faithfully  demean  himself  in  office. 
But  in  many  cases,  a  vacancy  occurs  whenever  the  President 
chooses  to  make  it.  If  he  appoints  another  man  to  the  office, 
whether  the  four-year  period  has  expired  or  not,  the  incumbent 
is  thereby  ousted.  A  vacancy  may  occur  during  the  recess 
of.  Congress.  In  such  case  the  President  fills  it  by  an  ap- 
pointment which  extends  to  the  end  of  the  next  session  of 
Congress,  if  the  Senate  refuses  to  confirm  it,  but  if  it  confirms 
it,  it  extends,  if  the  office  is  an  executive  one,  to  the  end  of 
the  four-year  period.  If  it  refuses  to  confirm  it,  he  may 
send  in  another  name  at  once,  or  he  may  wait  until  its  ad- 
journment and  then  make  another  appointment,  which  will 
again  extend  to  the  end  of  the  next  session,  unless  sooner 


THE  PRESIDENT.  179 

rejected  or  confirmed.  The  Congress  invests  certain  higher 
and  even  certain  inferior  officers  with  the  appointment  of  their 
assistants,  but  even  then  the  President  may  have  something 
to  say  as  to  who  those  assistants  are  to  be,  for  if  they  are  not 
agreeable  to  him,  he  may  remove  the  officer  who  selects  them. 

(4)  He  shall,  by  message  or  otherwise,  give  to  the 
Congress  information  on  the  state  of  the  Union,  and  recom- 
mend to  their  consideration  such  measures  as  he  shall  deem 
necessary.  Washington  and  Adams  appeared  before  Congress 
and  delivered  their  messages  by  a  speech,  to  which  Congress 
replied.  But  their  opponents  stigmatized  this  practice  as 
"monarchial,"  as  being  an  attempt  to  follow  the  practice 
of  the  English  king.  Accordingly  Jefferson,  who  did  not 
have  much  patience  with  kingly  customs,  and  who  was  withal 
a  powerful  writer  but  a  poor  speaker,  wrote  out  his  messages 
and  sent  them  by  messenger  to  the  Congress;  and  from  his 
time  on  the  succeeding  Presidents  followed  his  example, 
until  the  time  of  President  Wilson,  who,  when  a  pressing 
national  matter  or  an  acute  international  situationhad  arisen, 
usually  appeared  before  the  two  houses  in  joint  session  in  the 
House  of  Representatives,  and,  either  reading  or  speaking 
his  address,  laid  before  them  such  information  as  he  thought 
proper  to  give,  pointing  out  the  course  he  considered  it  the 
duty  of  the  Government  to  pursue,  and  asking  their  co- 
operation or  advice  in  pursuing  that  course. 

(5)  The  President  may,  on  extraordinary  occasions, 
convene  both  houses,  or  either  of  them,  in  extra  session,  and 
(6)  if  they  cannot  agree  upon  a  time  of  adjournment,  he  may 
adjourn  them  to  such  time  as  he  may  think  proper,  but  not 
beyond  the  time  of  the  beginning  of  the  next  regular  session, 

(7)  He  shall  receive  ambassadors  and  other  public  min- 
isters from  other  nations,  thereby  opening  the  way  for 
establishing  friendly  relations  between  those  nations  and  our 
own,  or  affording  a  means  of  adjusting  any  difficulties  that 


180       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

have  arisen  between  their  governments  and  ours,  or  between 
citizens  of  their  countries  and  citizens  of  this. 

(8)  He  shall  take  care  that  the*  laws  be  faithfully  exe- 
cuted, and  (9)  he  shall  commission  all  officers  of  the  United 
States. 

The  President's  duty  to  see  that  "the  laws  are  faithfully 
executed"  is  his  chief  duty.  The  "executive  power"  is 
vested  in  him,  and  he  is  the  Chief  Executive.  Whether  the 
laws  prove  efficient  to  correct  the  wrongs  they  were  passed 
to  remedy  may  depend  on  the  firmness  and  justice  with  which 
he  tries  to  execute  them.  He  is  not  above  law  himself; 
he  is  as  much  bound  to  obey  it  as  the  humblest  citizen.  He 
is  the  servant  of  the  people,  in  that  he  was  chosen  to  see  to 
it  that  their  will,  as  expressed  in  their  laws,  is  faithfully  car- 
ried out. 

145.  Veto  Power. — But  the  President  is  something 
more  than  the  Chief  Executive.  He  also  has  much  to  do 
with  legislation.  If  a  bill  passes  Congress  he  can  veto  it, 
that  is,  refuse  to  sign  it,  and  return  it  with  his  objections  to 
the  house  in  which  it  originated.  That  is  the  end  of  it  unless 
two-thirds  of  the  members  of  each  house  vote  to  pass  it  in 
spite  of  his  disapproval.  Thus  he  is  in  one  sense  a  "third 
house."  It  is  very  difficult  to  pass  a  bill  which  he  has  vetoed. 
It,  therefore,  becomes  necessary  .always  to  take  his  attitude 
into  account  in  considering  the  chances  for  enacting  any 
important  legislation.  If  he  belong  to  one  party,  and  the 
majority  of  each  house  to  another,  the  chances  are  exceed- 
ingly slim  that  any  bill  will  ever  be  passed  over  his  veto ;  and 
if  he  and  that  majority  belong  to  the  same  party,  to  pass  a 
bill  over  his  veto  may  mean  a  rupture  in  that  party,  and  its 
consequent  defeat  at  the  next  election.  Nevertheless,  the 
President's  veto  has  at  times  proved  to  be  one  of  the  most 
valuable  features  of  the  Constitution,  for  it  may  be  used  to 
block  hurtful  or  inconsiderate  legislation,  and  to  concentrate 
public  attention  on  the  proposed  measure,  and  when  that  is 


THE  PRESIDENT.  ,     181 

done,  his  veto  may  rally  the  country  to  his  support  or  have 
no  more  effect  than  to  postpone  for  a  short  time  a  needed 
law.  On  the  other  hand,  his  veto  vests  him  with  an  immense 
power  to  influence  legislation  and  to  "whip  members  of 
Congress  into  line."  To  use  his  office  in  that  way  would 
be  an  abuse  of  his  powers.  The  purpose  of  giving  him  the 
veto  power  was  to  enable  him  to  block  a  headlong  Congress 
or  override  its  mistakes.  It  was  never  designed  that  he 
should  be  a  legislator.  Congressmen  are  chosen  as  the 
people's  representatives  to  make  laws,  and  ±he  President's 
primary  duty  is  to  see  that  those  laws  are  executed,  but  it 
is  also  his  duty  to  use  his  veto  power  to  defeat  hurtful  legis- 
lation. 

146.  Powers  and  Duties  of  Vice-President. — ^The  Vice- 
President  has  very  few  duties.  He  presides  over  the  Senate, 
but  does  not  appoint  its  committees,  which  are  appointed 
by  the  Senate  itself  in  its  own  way.  He  takes  no  part  in 
debate,  and  cannot  vote  except  when  the  Senators  are  equally 
divided  on  a  bill  or  proposition,  when  he  has  a  "casting  vote" 
to  decide  the  matter.  The  office  is  of  small  importance  except 
when  a  vacancy  occurs  in  the  office  of  President.  Then 
it  becomes  all-important,  for  he  immediately  becomes  Presi- 
dent. If  he  does  that  or  dies  or  resigns,  no  provision  is  made 
for  filling  the  vacancy  in  the  office  of  Vice-President  until 
the  next  election.  The  Vice-President's  salary  is  $12,000  per 
year. 

147.  How  Elected. — ^The  people  do  not  vote  directly 
for  President  and  Vice-President.  They  are  elected  by 
electors  chosen  by  the  people  of  the  respective  States,  each 
State  being  entitled  to  as  may  electors  as  it  has  Senators 
and  Representatives  in  Congress.  The  whole  number  at 
the  present  time,  therefore,  is  531;  and  a  candidate  to  be 
elected  President  or  Vice-President,  must  receive  the  votes 
of  266  electors.  A  Territory  can  take  no  part  in  the  election 
of  President. 


182        CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

These  electors  must  be  chosen  in  all  the  States  on  the 
same  day,  but  in  each  State  they  are  to  be  chosen  "in  such 
manner  as  the  Legislature  thereof  may  direct,"  and  formerly 
they  were  chosen  in  at  least  half  the  States  by  the  legislatures 
themselves,  and  they  were  chosen  in  that  way  in  South 
Carolina  until  recent  years;  but  now  in  every  State  they  are 
chosen  by  the  vote  of  the  people,  on  the  first  Tuesday  after 
the  first  Monday  of  November  in  each  leap  year  and  each 
centennial  year. 

The  Governor  makes  out  four  lists  of  the  persons  who 
have  been  chosen  electors  in  his  State,  and  sends  one  to  the 
Secretary  of  State  at  Washington,  and  delivers  the  other 
three  to  the  electors,  who  meet  somewhere  within  the  State 
on  the  second  Monday  of  January  after  their  election  and 
vote  by  ballot  for  President  and  Vice-President,  and  make 
three  lists  of  all  persons  voted  for  by  them  for  President,  and 
three  separate  lists  of  all  persons  voted  for  for  Vice-President, 
and  of  the  number  of  votes  for  each.  They  then  attach  the 
Governor's  list  of  their  names  to  each  pair  of  their  lists,  and 
deposit  one  pair  with  the  judge  of  the  United  States  court  in 
whose  district  they  meet,  and  transmit  another  by  mail,  and 
send  the  third  by  special  messenger,  forthwith,  to  the  president 
of  the  Senate  at  Washington,  which  officer  on  the  second 
Wednesday  in  February,  in  the  presence  of  the  Senate  and 
House,  opens  the  lists  and  causes  the  votes  to  be  counted, 
and  the  person  who  has  received  the  greatest  number  of  all 
the  votes  for  President  shall  be  President,  if  such  number  is  a 
majority  of  all  the  electors  chosen  by  all  the  States. 

If  no  person  has  such  majority,  the  election  of  a  Presi- 
dent then  devolves  on  the  House  of  Representatives,  the  vote 
there  being  taken  by  States,  each  being  entitled  to  one  vote, 
and  the  person  who  receives  the  vote  of  a  majority  of  the 
States  is  declared  elected  President,  and  if  no  person  receives 
such  majority  by  the  fourth  of  March,  the  Vice-President 
shall  act  as  President  just  "as  in  case  of  the  death  of  the 


THE  PRESIDENT.  183 

President."  When  the  election  devolves  upon  the  House 
its  choice  must  be  made  from  the  persons,  not  exceeding 
three,  who  received  the  highest  number  of  electoral  votes. 
Twice  since  the  formation  of  the  Union  the  President  has 
been  elected  by  the  House  of  Representatives.  The  first 
time  was  in  1801,  when  Thomas  Jefferson  was  elected,  and  the 
next  was  1825,  when  John  Quincy  Adams  was  chosen  by  that 
body. 

.  If  no  person  receives  a  majority  of  the  electoral  votes 
cast  for  Vice-President,  the  election  devolves  on  the  Senate, 
which  makes  choice  from  the  two  men  who  have  received 
the  highest  number  of  electoral  votes,  and  the  person  re- 
ceiving the  vote  of  a  majority  of  all  the  Senators  shall  be 
Vice-President. 

This  method  of  electing  the  President  and  Vice-Presi- 
<Jent  is  prescribed  in  Amendment  XII,  which  was  declared 
ratified  September  25,  1804.  It  was  adopted  because  of  the 
unsatisfactory  method  prescribed  by  the  original  Constitu- 
tion. By  that  method  each  Presidential  elector  voted  for 
two  candidates  on  the  same  ballot,  and  the  one  who  ob- 
tained the  greatest  number  of  votes,  if  that  were  a  majority, 
was  to  be  President,  and  the  person  obtaining  the  next  greatest 
number  of  votes  was  to  be  Vice-President,  whether  such 
number  were  a  majority  of  the  electoral  vote  or  not.  In 
1789,  John  Adams  received  34  votes  when  the  total  number 
of  electors  was  73,  yet  according  to  the  Constitution,  as  it 
was  then,  he  was  elected  Vice-President.  In  1800  Thomas 
Jefferson  and  Aaron  Burr  each  received  73  votes — a  majority 
of  all  the  electoral  votes,  but  neither  had  "the  greatest  num- 
ber of  votes."  It  was  well  understood  by  the  electors  them- 
selves, and  by  the  people  who  had  chosen  them,  that  Mr. 
Jefferson  was  the  candidate  for  President,  and  Mr.  Burr  the 
candidate  for  Vice-President.  But  the  electors  had  no  power, 
under  the  Constitution  as  it  then  was,  to  vote  for  one  for 
President   and    for    the   other   for   Vice-President.     The   73 


184       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

electors  who  belonged  to  the  same  party  as  Jefferson  and  Burr 
did,  therefore  cast  one  vote  each  for  each  of  them,  and  hence 
neither  had  "the  greatest  number,"  When  the  Constitution 
was  first  framed  it  was  supposed  that  the  electors  would 
exercise  some  discretion  in  casting  their  votes  for  President; 
that  they  would  not  be  the  mere  mouthpiece  of  a  party,  but 
would  cast  their  votes  for  that  man  who  they  believed  was 
the  choice  of  the  people.  They  were  supposed  to  look  about 
and  ascertain  who  that  man  was.  It  was  not  conceived 
that  two  men  could  be  of  equal  favor  with  the  people,  and 
hence  it  was  supposed  that  one  would  always  get  more  votes 
than  the  other,  and  it  was  intended  by  the  Constitution  that 
the  one  who  got  the  votes  of  the  greatest  number  of  electors, 
if  they  were  a  majority,  would  be  the  President,  and  the  one 
who  got  the  next  highest  number,  whether  a  majority  or 
not,  would  be  Vice-President.  But  by  1800  parties  had. 
formed,  with  rigid  lines.  Each  put  forward  its  candidates 
for  President  and  Vice-President,  but  only  one  set  of  electors 
could  be  chosen  for  each  State,  and  when  those  electors  came 
together  they  could  not  vote  for  one  candidate  for  President 
and  another  for  Vice-President.  All  they  could  do  was  to 
vote  for  two  candidates,  without  designating  which  was  to 
be  President  and  which  Vice-President.  Thus  it  came 
about  that  Jefferson  and  Burr  each  got  the  same  number  of 
votes — each  got  all  the  electoral  votes  of  the  States  which 
had  been  carried  by  the  party  to  which  they  belonged.  The 
election,  therefore,  devolved  upon  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, which  chose  Jefferson.  But  nevertheless  the  country 
had  been  violently  disturbed  by  intrigues  which  formed  be- 
tween Burr  and  the  enemies  of  Jefferson  to  wrest  the  Presi- 
dency from  him.  It  was  foreseen  that  such  results  might 
follow  every  election  so  long  as  parties  lasted.  For  that 
reason  the  Constitution  was  changed,  so  as  to  permit  each 
elector  to  cast  one  vote  for  President  and  one  for  Vice-Presi- 


THE  PRESIDENT.  185 

dent,  and  that  change  was  made  by  the  Twelfth  Amend- 
ment.  -  . 

148.  Presidential  Electors. — By  the  practice  of  parties, 
but  not  because  the  law  so  says,  for  parties  are  purely  vol- 
untary organizations,  each  party  chooses  delegates  from 
each  State,  usually  two  from  each  Congressional  district 
and  four  from  the  State  at  large;  that  is,  each  State  has 
twice  as  many  as  it  has  Senators  and  Representatives  in  Con- 
gress. These  delegates  meet  in  national  convention  and 
nominate,  for  the  party  by  which  they  have  been  chosen, 
one  candidate  for  President  and  another  for  Vice-President. 
Then  a  State  Convention  of  the  party  is  held,  and  one  Presi- 
dential elector  for  each  Congressional  district  and  two  from 
the  State  at  large  are  named,  and  at  the  election  in  the  suc- 
ceeding November  those  voters  who  desire  the  election  of  the 
candidate  of  that  party  for  President  vote,  not  for  him,  but 
for  this  set  of  electors,  and  if  they  receive  more  votes  than 
any  other  set  all  of  them  are  expected  to  vote  for  him  when 
they  meet  on  the  second  Monday  of  the  following  January. 
Of  course,  if  he  should  die  before  they  meet  to  cast  their 
votes,  they  would  vote  for  some  other  man,  but  otherwise 
they  would  be  considered  guilty  of  the  grossest  perfidy  if 
they  did  that.  There  is  no  written  law  that  compels  them 
to  vote  for  the  candidate  of  the  party  by  which  they  were 
selected,  yet  so  thoroughly  understood  has  it  become  that 
they  will  do  so  that  it  is  now  known  almost  before  midnight 
following  election  day  who  will  be  the  next  President. 

When  electors  are  chosen  in  this  way,  each  voter  votes 
for  as  many  as  the  State  is  entitled  to,  and  if  one  set  carries 
the  State  by  never  so  small  a  plurality  their  party's  candidate 
for  President  gets  the  votes  of  all  of  them.  But  they  are 
not  always  chosen  in  this  way.  They  are  to  be  chosen  in 
each  State  as  the  Legislature  directs. 

In  Michigan  more  than  twenty  years  ago  the  Legislature 
directed  that  one  elector  should  be  chosen  by  the  people  of 


186       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

each  Congressional  district,  and  two  from  the  State  at  large, 
so  that  each  voter  voted  for  only  three,  instead  of  the  whole 
number  to  which  the  State  was  entitled.  In  this  way,  in 
1892,  Mr.  Cleveland  got  five  electoral  votes  from  that  State, 
and  General  Harrison  the  rest. 

Even  in  those  States  in  which  the  Legislature  has  by 
law  directed  that  the  names  of  all  the  candidates  for  Presi- 
dential elector  be  printed  on  the  tickets  of  the  party  by  which 
they  have  been  selected,  and  has  authorized  each  voter  to 
vbte  for  the  whole  number,  a  part  of  them  might  be  elected, 
and  the  balance  fail  of  election.  For  instance,  Missouri, 
having  two  Senators  and  sixteen  Representatives  in  Con- 
gress, is  entitled  to  eighteen  Presidential  electors,  and  the 
names  of  eighteen  candidates  will  be  printed  on  the  Demo- 
cratic tickets,  and  the  names  of  eighteen  other  candidates  on 
the  Republican  tickets,  and  every  voter  who  wishes  the 
Republican  candidate  for  President  to  be  elected  can  vote 
for  the  eighteen  men  whose  names  are  on  the  Republican 
tickets,  and  every  voter  who  wishes  the  Democratic  candi- 
date for  President  to  be  chosen  can  vote  for  the  eighteen  men 
whose  names  are  on  the  Democratic  tickets;  but  they  are 
not  compelled  to  vote  for  the  whole  eighteen.  They  can 
scratch  off  one  or  more  names  if  they  wish  to  do  so;  they 
can  even  go  further,  and  write  in  the  names  of  those  on  the 
other  party's  ticket  in  place  of  those  they  have  stricken  off. 
By  that  means,  if  the  election  should  be  close  in  the  State, 
some  of  the  candidates  for  Presidential  elector  of  one  party 
might  be  chosen,  and  some  of  the  other  party.  And  those 
of  one  party,  when  they  meet  in  January,  would  vote  for 
one  candidate  for  President,  and  the  others  would  vote  for 
the  candidate  of  the  other  party. 

To  be  elected,  a  candidate  for  Presidential  elector  does 
not  have  to  receive  a  majority  of  the  votes  cast  in  the  State; 
he  must  receive  simply  more  votes  than  his  nearest  compet- 
itor.    But  a  candidate  for  President,  in  order  to  be  elected. 


THE  PRESIDENT.  187 

must  receive  a  majority  of  all  the  votes  of  the  dectors  chosen 
by  all  the  States. 

The  Constitution  provides  that  the  electors  shall  meet 
in  their  respective  States  and  vote  by  ballot  for  President 
and  Vice-President,  "one  of  Whom  at  least  shall  not  be  an 
inhabitant  of  the  same  State  with  themselves."  Therefore, 
in  order  that  all  electors  may  vote  for  both  candidates  of  their 
party,  those  candidates  are  always  taken  from  different 
States,  and  hence  it  is  a  fact  that  the  President  and  Vice- 
President  are  never  residents  of  the  same  State. 

149.  Qualification  of  Electors. — No  Senator  or  Repre- 
sentative can  be  a  Presidential  elector,  nor  can  any  person 
who  holds  "any  office  of  profit  or  trust  under  the  United 
States."  This  bars  postmasters  and  all  United  States  officers. 
But  it  does  not  disqualify  State  officers,  but  in  some  of  the 
States  they  are  disqualified  by  State  laws. 

150.  Electoral  Vacancies  and  Contests. — If  an  elec- 
tor between  the  time  of  his  election  and  the  meeting  of  the 
electors  on  the  second  Monday  in  January  should  die  or  fail 
to  attend,  those  electors  present  at  the  meeting  choose  some 
one  to  fill  the  vacancy.  This  is  the  law  of  nearly  every  State, 
and  no  embarrassment  is  likely  to  come  from  that  plan. 

But  sometimes  it  is  doubtful  which  set  of  electors  has 
carried  a  State.  In  that  case,  the  legislature  or  courts  of 
the  State  may  decide  which  set  has  been  legally  elected,  and 
that  decision  is  final  if  it  is  made  six  days  before  the  second 
Monday  in  January.  If  not  made  before  that  time,  the  Con- 
gress may  decide  which  set  was  legally  elected  at  the  polls, 
but  where  there  has  been  no  decision  by  the  legislature  or 
the  courts,  both  houses  must  concur  before  any  elector  who 
the  Governor  has  certified  was  elected  can  be  rejected. 

Questions  on  Chapter  XV. 

1.  Where  is  the  executive  power  vested?     (139) 

2.  What  is  an  executive  officer?     (139) 

3.  In  whom  is  the  executive  power  lodged?     (139) 


188        CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

4.  What  are  other  executive  officers?     (139) 

5.  Can  they  be  removed  by  the  President?     (139) 

6.  To  what  officers  does  this  apply?     (139) 

7.  What  executive  officers  are  elected?     (139) 

8.  What  appointed?      (139) 

9.  Is  that  so  in  the  States?     (139) 

10.'  Can  Congress  provide  that  other  executive  officers  be  elected? 
(139) 

11.  How  is  the  President's  power  of  appointment  limited?     (139) 

12.  What  is  said  of  this  provision?     (139) 

13.  What  is  all  government  for?     (139) 

14.  For  what  term  is  the  President  elected?     (140) 

15.  Is  he  eligible  to  re-election?     (140) 

16.  What  must  be  his  qualifications?     (141) 

17.  How  is  a  vacancy  in  the  Presidency  filled?     (142) 

18.  Can  his  salary  be  increased?     (143) 

19.  What  is  it?     (143) 

20.  Discuss  the  powers  of  the  President.     (144) 

21.  Discuss  the  President's  veto  power.     (145) 

22.  What  are  the  duties  of  tbe  Vice-President?     (146) 

23.  How  are  the  President  and  Vice-President  elected?     (147) 

24.  How  are  Presidential  electors  chosen?     (147) 

25.  Describe  the  meeting  of  electors,  their  duties,  and  the  counting 

of  their  votes.      (147) 

26.  If  no  person  receives  the  votes  of  a  majority  of  the  electors  for 

President,  how  is  he  chosen?     (147) 

27.  If  no  person  receives  the  vote  of  a  majority  of  electors  for  Vice- 

President,  how  is  he  chosen?     (147) 

28.  Why  was  amendment  twelve  adopted?     (147) 

29.  Describe  how  Presidential  electors  are  chosen.     (148) 

30.  Are  they  compelled  to  vote  for  the  candidate  of  their  party? 

(148) 

31.  How  many  electors  does  each  voter  vote  for?     (148) 

32.  Are  they  always  chosen  in  this  way?     (148) 

33.  Why  are  the  President  and  Vice-President  never  residents  of  the 

same  State?     (148) 

34.  What  persons  cannot  be  electors?     (149) 

35.  How  are  electoral  vacancies  filled?     (150) 

36.  How  are  contests  over  electors  settled?     (150) 


THE  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENTS.  -  189 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENTS. 

151.  The  Cabinet. — The  executive  business  of  the  Gov- 
ernment has  been  arranged  under  ten  general  divisions,  called 
executive  departments.  The  work  of  each  department  is 
superintended  by  one  chief  officer,  selected  by  the  President. 
The  heads  of  these  departments,  in  the  order  of  their  rank, 
are  the  Secretary  of  State,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  Secre- 
tary of  War,  Attorney-General,  Postmaster-General,  Secre- 
tary of  the  Navy,  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  Secretary  of  Agri- 
culture, Secretary  of  Commerce  and  Secretary  of  Labor. 
These  officers  constitute  what  is  called  the  President's  Cab- 
inet. They  are  his  immediate  assistants  and  closest  advisers. 
At  stated  times  they  meet  him  in  conference  and  discuss 
the  affairs  of  the  nation.  No  record  of  these  meetings  is 
kept,  for  the  discussions  in  the  nature  of  things  must  often 
be  confidential,  and  for  this  reason  and  other  intimate  rela- 
tions between  him  and  them  the  Cabinet  is  sometimes  called 
the  "President's  official  family."  Of  course  the  President 
exercises  a  general  directing  control  over  all  the  departments, 
and  his  orders  must  be  obeyed  by  each  Cabinet  officer. 

They  are  not  designated  the  Cabinet  in  the  Constitu- 
tion. In  fact,  the  word  "Cabinet"  nowhere  appears  therein, 
but  the  words  "heads  of  departments"  do,  and  as  the  heads 
of  departments  in  England  have  long  been  styled  the  Cabinet 
our  heads  of  departments  are  also  called  the  Cabinet  after 
the  English  usage,  but  they  differ  very  widely  from  the 
Cabinet  in  England.  They  do  not  attend  the  meetings  of 
Congress  and  propose  legislation,  as  in  England.  They  are 
often  invited  to  attend  the  meetings  of  committees  and 
give  information  on  the  affairs  of  the  Government,  and 
the  needs  of  their  departments,  and  once  a  year  they  publish 


190       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

extensive  reports  showing  the  work  and  expenses  of  those 
departments  in  detail.  But  beyond  this  they  have  nothing 
to  do  with  shaping  legislation. 

A  Cabinet  officer  receives  a  salary  of  $12,000  a  year. 

152.  Department  of  State. — The  Secretary  of  State  is 
the  head  of  this  department,  and  he  is  the  only  officer  who 
is  authorized  to  communicate  with  other  governments  in  the 
name  of  the  President.  To  him  belongs  the  duty  of  direct- 
ing the  work  of  ambassadors,  ministers,  consuls,  and  other 
diplomatic  officers  and  agents  stationed  in  other  nations  to 
look  after  the  affairs  of  this  nation  there.  They  receive  in- 
structions from  him  and  whatever  communication  they  may 
make  to  their  home  Government  is  usually  made  through 
him.  Negotiations  for  treaties  are  carried  on  through  this 
department.  It  is  sometimes  called  ''the  office  of  foreign 
^.ffairs,"  for  all  matters  pertaining  to  our  relations  with  other 
nations  are  conducted  through  it. 

Ambassadors  are  the  highest  diplomatic  officers.  They 
represent  this  Government  at  the  capitals  of  the  principal 
nations,  like  England,  Germany  and  France,  and  aid  in 
negotiating  treaties,  and  inform  those  governments  of  the 
objections  the  President  may  have  to  any  action  they  may 
be  about  to  take  which  would  affect  our  rights  there  or  in  any 
part  of  the  world.  Ministers  perform  the  same  duties  at  the 
capitals  of  lesser  nations,  such  as  Mexico  and  Spain.  Con- 
suls are  not  diplomatic  officers  at  all,  but  their  duties  are  to 
aid  in  facilitating  our  trade  with  foreign  countries,  to  look 
after  the  comforts  and  rights  of  citizens  who  go  abroad  on 
business  or  pleasure,  to  administer  on  their  estates  in  case 
of  their  death,  and  to  exercise  a  protective  care  over  sea- 
men, and  in  some  non-Christian  countries,  such  as  China  and 
Japan,  they  take  jurisdiction  over  criminal  cases  in  which 
Americans  are  concerned. 

153.  The  Treasury  Department. — This  department  is 
second  in  rank,  but  in  times  of  peace  is  often  first  in  impor- 


THE  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENTS.  191 

tance.  The  business  of  the  Government  is  brought  closer 
to  the  people  through  it  than  any  other,  unless  it  be  the 
Post  Office.  The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  is  the  head  of 
it,  and  he  is  assisted  by  auditors,  comptrollers,  treasurers, 
collectors  of  ports,  internal  revenue  collectors,  and  thousands 
of  minor  officers.  Through  this  department  import  duties 
and  excise  taxes  are  collected  and  disbursed,  gold  and  silver  is 
coined,  and  other  paper  money  is  issued,  and  Government 
bonds  are  issued,  sold  and  paid.  It  exercises  a  watchful 
control  over  national  banks,  and  has  charge  of  all  moneys 
belonging  to  the  United  States.  The  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 
ury is  chairman  of  the  Federal  Farm  Loan  Board,  a  member 
of  the  Federal  Reserve  Bank  Board,  and  he  and  these  boards, 
more  than  any  other  officers,  must  watch  the  effect  of  the 
volume  of  money  and  the  use  of  different  kinds  of  money 
on  the  business  of  the  country. 

In  New  York,  New  Orleans,  St.  Louis  and  several  other 
large  cities  are  branches  of  the  Treasury,  called  sub-treasuries, 
which  have  been  established  that  the  public  moneys  may 
be  more  readily  received  and  that  one  kind  of  money  may 
be  quickly  exchanged  for  another,  for  instance,  gold  for 
greenbacks,  or  silver  certificates  for  silver  dollars.  Con- 
nected with  this  department  are  also  the  five  Government 
mints  at  Philadelphia,  San  Francisco,  New  Orleans,  Denver 
and  Carson,  which  coin  gold  and  silver  and  minor  coins  as 
directed  by  Congress. 

No  man  directly  interested  in  trade  or  commerce  can 
be  appointed  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  the  office  has 
almost  always  been  filled  by  "men  of  small  incomes  bred 
either  to  politics  or  the  legal  profession."  Yet  no  depart- 
ment of  the  Government  has  been  more  faithfully  admin- 
istered. 

153a.  Rural  Credits  System. — Connected  with  the 
Treasury  Department  is  the  Federal  Farm  Loan  Bureau. 
Desiring  to  encourage  industrious  families  of  small  means 


192       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

to  own  farms,  Congress  in  1916  undertook  to  work  out  a 
plan  by  which  farmers  may  borrow  money  at  low  rates  of 
interest  and  on  terms  of  easy  payments,  and  use  it  in  ac- 
quiring and  improving  farms.  The  plan  adopted  utilizes  in 
part  the  principles  upon  which  building-and-loan  associations 
in  towns  are  built. 

The  whole  country  is  divided  into  twelve  districts,  and 
in  a  central  city  in  each  is  a  Federal  Land  Bank,  which  must 
have  a  capital  of  not  less  than  $750,000  with  which  to  begin 
business. 

Throughout  that  district  are  numerous  local  organiza- 
tions called  National*  Farm  Loan  Associations.  There  may 
be  one  for  every  county,  and  that  is  the  usual  rule,  but  ten 
or  more  persons  desiring  to  borrow  money  by  giving  first 
mortgages  on  their  farms  as  security  may  form  such  an 
association,  provided  the  amount  all  of  them  wish  to  borrow 
is  not  less  than  twenty  thousand  dollars.  It  is  through  these 
associations  that  money  is  borrowed  by  its  members  from  the 
district  Federal  Land  Bank.  Each  farmer  wishing  to  borrow 
money  from  the  bank  becomes  a  member  of  the  association 
by  paying  five  dollars  for  each  one  hundred  dollars  he  wishes 
to  borrow.  For  each  five  dollars  so  paid  in  by  him  (which 
means  five  per  cent  of  his  loan)  he  is  issued  a  stockholders' 
certificate  and  he  has  one  vote  for  each  certificate  in  electing 
directors  of  the  association.  There  are  not  less  than  five 
directors  and  they  must  be  chosen  from  the  stockholders. 
The  association  has  a  committee  to  pass  on  applications  for 
loans,  and  to  appraise  the  value  of  the  farm  which  the  bor- 
rower offers  as  security;  and  lest  the  committee  put  an  un- 
just valuation  upon  it,  there  is  a  disinterested  appraiser  to 
make  personal  examination  and  fix  an  independent  valuation. 

At  the  outset  when  these  banks  were  being  organized 
the  money  paid  by  the  stockholders  for  their  stock  certificates 
was  sent  to  the  district  Federal  Land  Bank  and  used  to  con- 
stitute its  capital,  and  if  as  much  as  seven  hundred  and 


THE  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENTS.  193 

fifty  thousand  dollars  was  not  obtained  in  that  way  from 
prospective  borrowers  within  a  designated  time  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury  in  the  name  of  the  Government  subscribed 
for  the  deficiency  and  money  equal  to  the  amount  subscribed 
by  him  was  taken  out  of  the  Treasury  and  turned  over  to  the 
bank.  After  the  capital  of  a  bank  reaches  seven  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  dollars  twenty-five  per  cent  of  all  sums 
thereafter  subscribed  is  applied  each  year  to  paying  back 
to  former  subscribers  in  the  order  of  their  subscriptions  the 
five  per  cent  paid  in  by  them.  Thus,  in  time  all  subscribers 
(including  the  Government)  have  been  or  will  be  paid  back 
the  money  paid  for  their  stock,  and  the  bank's  capital  will 
be  kept  at  not  less  than  seven  hundred  and  fifty  thou- 
sand dollars. 

The  smallest  loan  that  can  be  made  to  any  one  person 
is  one  hundred  dollars,  and  the  largest  ten  thousand,  and 
every  loan  must  be  secured  by  a  first  mortgage  on  land 
worth  twice  the  amount  borrowed.  The  borrower  can  desig- 
nate the  number  of  years  he  wishes  the  loan  to  run,  which 
cannot  be  less  than  five  nor  more  than  forty,  and  he  must 
pay  a  part  of  the  principal  each  year.  The  interest  and 
principal  are  so  calculated  and  apportioned  among  the  years 
that  it  is  ascertained  in  advance  just  how  much  of  each  he 
must  pay  each  year  in  order  to  extinguish  the  whole  at  the 
end  of  the  period  for  which  the  loan  is  to  run.  The  whole 
(principal  and  interest,  as  thus  ascertained)  is  divided  into 
installments  of*  equal  size,  and  the  borrower  is  required 
to  pay  one  installment  each  year  until  all  are  paid,  except 
that  after  five  years  he  can  pay  one  or  more  (even  the  entire 
debt)  on  any  installment  date.  This  is  one  of  the  best 
features  of  the  system,  for  it  affords  the  farmer  a  plan  by 
which  in  fat  years  he  can  pay  ahead  on  his  installments,  and 
thus  avoid  the  hardship  of  paying  them  in  subsequent  lean 
years. 

When  the  bank  has  received  these  mortgage  notes  to 

13 


194       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

the  amount  of  fifty  thousand  dollars  or  more  it  issues  an 
equal  amount  of  farm  loan  bonds,  bearing  not  to  exceed 
five  per  cent  interest,  and  sells  them  to  any  person  wishing 
to  buy,  and  uses  the  money  in  making  loans  to  other  farmers, 
and  as  fast  as  the  notes  are  paid  an  equal  amount  of  bonds 
is  paid  off  and  retired;  or,  instead  of  retiring  the  bonds,, the 
notes  may  be  surrendered  to  the  persons  paying  them  and  the 
money  paid  loaned  to  other  farmers  and  their  notes  used  to 
replace  those  surrendered.  Thus,  whether  the  one  or  the 
other  method  is  pursued,  the  bonds  are  always  supported 
by  an  equal  amount  of  notes  secured  by  mortgages  on  land 
worth  twice  their  amount. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  how  the  bank  obtains  the  money 
with  which  it  makes  loans:  To  begin  with,  farmers  wishing 
to  borrow  money  pay  into  the  bank  five  per  cent  of  the  amount 
to  be  borrowed,  and  that  is  continued  until  the  bank  has 
seven  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  on  hand;  second, 
when  loans  to  the  amount  of.  fifty  thousand  dollars  or  more 
are  made  bonds  equal  to  the  amount  of  the  mortgage  notes 
are  issued  and  sold  for  money;  third,  that  money  is  in  turn 
loaned  to  other  farmers,  and  other  notes  equal  to  the  amount 
of  the  loans  and  secured  by  mortgages  on  their  farms  are 
taken  up  by  the  bank;  fourth,  these  notes  are  in  turn  used  as 
a  basis  for  another  bond  issue;  and,  fifth,  as  the  notes  are 
paid  off,  an  equal  amount  of  bonds  is  called  in  by  the  bank, 
paid  off,  and  cancelled. 

All  farm  notes,  bonds  and  mortgages  are  exempt  from 
taxation  of  every  kind. 

The  rate  of  interest  the  notes  must  bear  is  equal  to  the 
rate  bf  interest  the  last  bonds  issued  bore,  plus  one  per  cent. 
For  instance,  if  the  last  bonds  issued  bore  four  per  cent 
the  borrower  must  pay  five  per  cent  interest  on  the  amount 
loaned  him,  and  if  they  bore  five  per  cent  he  must  pay  six 
per  cent  interest;  but  in  no  case  is  he  required  to  pay  more 
than  six  per  cent.     The  one  per  cent  extra  is  to  cover  expenses 


THE  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENTS. 


195 


and  profits.  It  will  often  be  the  case  that  four-per-cent 
bonds,  since  they  are  non-taxable,  can  be  sold  at  par;  in 
which  event,  the  next  borrower  from  the  bank  will  pay  five 
per  cent  interest. 

The  money  borrowed  can  be  used  only  to  purchase  land 
for  agricultural  uses,  or  to  pay  off  existing  mortgages,  or  to 
erect  buildings  and  other  improvements,  or  to  purchase 
fertilizers,  live  stock  and  other  equipment  necessary  for  the 
proper  operation  of  the  mortgaged  farm.  And  the  bank 
can  loan  money  only  to  farmers,  or  to  persons  about  to  be- 
come farmers,  and  it  can  engage  in  no  other  kind  of 
business. 

The  entire  system  is  under  the  active  control  of  the 
Federal   Farm   Loan   Board,   consisting  of  the  Secretary  of 


ILLUSTRATION  OF  A  FEDERAL  FARM  LOAN. 

The  following  table  shows  the  annual  payment  a  farmer  must  make  for 

a  loan  of  $1,000  for  20  years  at  five  per  cent  interest,  how  much  of  that  pay- 
ment is  interest  and  how  much  principal,  and  how  much  principal  remains  un- 
paid at  the  end  of  each  year. 

Total  Interest  Paid  Amount  of 

annual  at  five  on  principal 

Years.                                       payment,  per  cent.  principal,  still  unpaid. 

1 $80 . 24  $50 . 00  $30 . 24  $969 . 76 

2 80.24  48.48  31.75  938.00 

3 80.24  46.90  33.34  904.67 

4 .  . % 80 . 24  45 . 32  35 . 01  869 . 66 

5 80 . 24  43 . 48  36 . 76  832 . 90 

6 80.24  41.64  38.59  794.31 

7 80.24  39.71  40.52  753.79 

8 80 . 24  37 . 68  42 . 55  711 . 23 

9 80.24  35.66  44.68  666.56 

10 80 . 24  33 .32  46 . 91  619 . 64 

11 80.24  30.98  49.26  570.39 

12. 80.24  28.51  51.72  518.67 

13 80.24  25.93  54.31  464.36 

14 80 . 24  23 . 21  57 . 02  407 . 34 

15 80 . 24  20 . 36  59 . 87  347 . 46 

16 80 . 24  17.37  62 . 87  248 . 60 

17 80.24  14.23  66.01  218.51 

18 80 . 24  10 . 93  69 . 31  149 . 28 

19 80 .  24  7 .  46  72 .  78  76 .  50 

20 80.33  3.83  76.50             

Totals $1,604.89  $604.81  $1,000.00             


196       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

the  Treasury  and  four  other  members  appointed  by  the 
President,  at  a  salary  of  ten  thousand  dollars  a  year.  The 
board  appoints  registrars,  appraisers,  examiners,  attorneys, 
inspectors  and  other  employees  to  assist  them  in  requiring 
every  loan  and  every  transaction  of  all  farm  loan  banks 
and  of  all  farm  loan  associations  to  be  done  honestly  and  in 
strict  compliance  with  the  law.  Each  Farm  Loan  Bank  has 
nine  directors,  of  whom  three  are  appointed  by  the  board 
to  represent  the  public  interest,  and  the  other  six  are  elected 
by  the  farm  loan  associations,  and  these  directors  choose 
the  bank's  officers  and  are  responsible  for  its  management. 

154.  The  War  Department. — ^The  Secretary  of  War 
superintends  the  military  affairs  of  the  United  States  and 
their  islands.  He  has  supervision  over  the  enlistment  of 
soldiers,  in  all  branches  of  the  Army,  in  times  of  war  or 
peace,  the  movements  and  concentration  of  armies,  and  the 
construction  of  forts,  arsenals  and  magazines.  The  depart- 
ment supplies  the  army  with  clothing,  rations,  guns,  ammuni- 
tion, trucks,  horses,  trains  and  all  needful  equipment,  and 
the  National  Guard  with  some  of  these  things.  The  Army 
and  Guard  have  been  fully  described  in  Chapter  XII. 

Connected  with  this  department  and  so  closely  joined 
to  the  work  of  the  Army  as  almost  to  be  a  part  of  it  is  another 
sub-department  called  the  Engineer  Department,  which  has 
charge  of  river  and  harbor  improvements. 

155.  The  Department  of  Justice. — ^The  Attorney-Gen- 
eral is  the  head  of  this  department.  He  is  the  legal  adviser 
of  all  other  departments.  He  appears  in  the  Supreme  Court 
in  all  suits  in  which  the  interests  of  the  United  States  are 
directly  involved,  and  in  every  district  court  throughout  the 
country  there  is  a  district  attorney  or  assistant  attorneys 
to  represent  the  Government  in  prosecuting  violators  of  the 
laws  of  Congress. 

156.  The  Post  Office  Department. — This  department 
has  no  other  business  except  to  receive,  collect,  carry  and  de- 


THE  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENTS.  197 

liver  the  mails,  issue  and  cash  money  orders,  and  carry  on 
the  business  of  the  Postal  Savings  System ;  but  so  extensive  is 
the  amount  of  that  work  that  elsewhere  a  whole  chapter  is 
given  to  it  (Chapter  XI).  The  head  of  the  department  is 
the  Postmaster-General. 

157.  The  Navy  Department. — ^The  Navy  consists  of 
warships,  docks,  navy  yards,  and  the  officers  and  men  in 
the  navy  service.  These  ships  are  sent  into  every  part  of 
the  world  where  an  American  citizen  or  American  trade  may 
need  protection,  or  American  rights  may  be  impaired.  The 
Navy  is  the  Government's  police  on  the  high  seas.  It  is 
its  fighting  force  on  water,  as  the  Army  is  on  land.  The 
dominion  of  all  nations  extends  three  miles  from  shore  into 
the  ocean.  Within  that  three-mile  belt  the  nation  has  the 
same  authority  that  it  has  on  land.  But  beyond  that  zone, 
the  ocean  is  the  world's  highway,  on  which  all  nations  have 
the  same  rights.  Merchant  ships,  or  vessels  that  carry 
persons  and  things  from  one  country  to  another,  travel  that 
highway,  and  it  is  the  duty  of  our  Government  to  protect 
our  merchant  ships  and  our  citizens  who  are  passengers 
upon  them  or  upon  any  other  merchant  ship  in  their  right  to 
peaceably  travel  upon  the  high  seas.  Along  the  coast  are 
fine  cities,  and  they,  too,  must  be  protected  from  any  foreign 
enemy.  The  Navy  is  created  and  maintained  for  that 
purpose. 

It  is  through  the  Navy  Department  that  orders  for  the 
building  and  movements  of  ships,  and  for  the  supply  of  guns 
and  ammunition  and  all  kinds  of  naval  equipment,  are  made, 
and  the  superintendent  of  the  department  is  the  Secretary 
of  the  Navy. 

158.  The  Department  of  the  Interior. — ^This  depart- 
ment was  not  organized  until  1849.  The  work  of  issuing 
patents  to  inventors,  of  surveying  and  selling  the  public 
lands,  of  granting  and  paying  pensions,  belongs  to  the  Interior 


198       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Department.  Besides,  there  belongs  to  it  the  work  of  estab- 
lishing Indian  agencies  and  supplying  Indians  with  such 
money,  clothing,  food  and  education  as  Congress  grants  these 
"wards  of  the  nation."  In  addition,  there  is  a  bureau  of 
education,  whose  work  consists  chiefly  of  gathering  statistics 
concerning  all  kinds  of  schools,  and  collecting  and  publishing 
under  proper  heads  educational  information. 

158a.  The  Irrigation  or  reclamation  of  arid  lands  is,  also, 
a  part  of  the  work  of  this  department.  In  1902  the  policy 
of  the  Government  in  reference  to  public  lands  was  changed. 
Prior  to  that  time  the  net  proceeds  derived  from  all  lands 
sold  to  settlers  was  turned  into  the  Treasury,  and  disposed 
of  as  revenue.  But  in  1902  Congress  provided  that  ninety- 
five  per  cent  of  the  net  proceeds  thereafter  derived  from  the 
sale  of  "public  lands  in  Arizona,  California,  Colorado,  Idaho, 
Kansas,  Montana,  Nebraska,  Nevada,  New  Mexico,  North 
Dakota,  Oklahoma,  Oregon,  South  Dakota,  Utah,  Washing- 
ton and  Wyoming  should  be  used  in  constructing  ditches 
and  reservoirs  for  the  irrigation  or  watering  of  the  arid  and 
semi-arid  lands"  lying  in  those  States.  These-  lands  are 
very  rich  if  they  can  be  properly  watered.  The  purpose 
of  this  irrigation  scheme  is  to  collect  the  water  which  comes 
from  snow  or  rain  in  the  mountains,  and  instead  of  permit- 
ting it  to  run  off  to  the  sea  through  the  long  rivers,  to  turn 
it  through  these  ditches  across  the  plains,  and  distribute 
it  at  the  proper  times  over  these  dry  lands.  No  one  can 
foretell  the  amount  of  the  things  that  go  to  feed  and  clothe 
men  which,  may  be  produced  from  these  heretofore  barren 
lands  as  the  result  of  this  comprehensive  scheme  to  make 
them  productive. 

158b.  A  Pension  is  a  sum  of  money  awarded  to  a  soldier 
or  sailor  or  his  family,  for  his  past  service  in  a  war.  Pensions 
are  of  two  kinds:  service  pensions,  and  invalid  or  disability 
pensions.  A  service  pension  is  an  allowance  of  so  much  per 
month  to  all  soldiers  who  served  in  a  certain  war  whether 


THE  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENTS.  199 

they  were  or  are  disabled  by  disease  or  not,  or  are  dependent 
or  poor  or  not.  An  invalid  pension  is  a  certain  allowance 
to  soldiers  who  were  disabled  by  wounds  or  sickness  incurred 
in  war,  or  who  have  since  become  disabled  by  disease  or  any 
other  cause.  Prior  to  1890  pensions  were  granted  to  soldiers 
of  the  Civil  War,  or  to  their  widows  and  minor  children, 
only  on  account  of  disability  or  death  due  to  service  in  the 
war.  But  in  that  year  provision  was  made  for  a  pension 
of  $12  per  month  for  any  soldier  who  had  honorably  served  for 
ninety  days  in  the  war  and  had  become  permanently  disabled 
from  any  cause  to  earn  a  support  by  manual  labor. 

In  1912  the  law  was  so  changed  as  to  provide  for  a  service 
pension.  That  pension  varies  according  to  age  and  length 
of  service.  Any  soldier  or  sailor  who  honorably  served  the 
United  States  for  ninety  days  in  the  Civil  War  and  who  has 
reached  the  age  of  sixty-two  years,  is  allowed  a  pension  of 
thirteen  dollars  per  month,  and  that  amount  is  increased 
according  to  age  and  length  of  service,  so  that  a  soldier  or 
sailor  who  served  two  years  or  over  and  has  reached  the  age 
of  seventy-five  years  receives  thirty  dollars  per  month.  That 
law  also  provided  for  a  disability  pension,  for  it  declared 
that  any  soldier  or  sailor  who  was  wounded  in  that  war  or 
otherwise  disabled  in  line  of  duty  and  by  reason  thereof  is 


Pensions  of  the  Several  Wars. — The  Commissioner  of  Pensions,  in  his 
annual  report  of  1916,  says:  "The  amounts  that  have  been  paid  for  pensions 
to  soldiers,  sailors  and  marines,  their  widows,  minor  children  and  dependent 
relatives  on  account  of  military  and  naval  service,  between  1790  and  June  30, 
1916,  are  as  follows: 

War  of  the  Revolution  (estimated) ^70 ,  000 ,  000 .  00 

War  of  1812  (service  pension) .  . :    45 ,  991 ,  743 .  76 

Indian  Wars  (service  pension) 13 ,  790 ,  299 .  13 

War  with  Mexico  (service  pension) 50 ,  422 ,  229 .  22 

Civil  War 4,765,075,020.92 

War  with  Spain  and  Philippine  insurrection 53 ,  744 ,  667 .  55     ' 

Regular  establishment 39 ,  098 ,  319 .  01 

Unclassified 16,508.447.41 

Total $5,054,630,727.00 


200       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

unable  to  earn  his  support  by  manual  labor,  shall  receive 
a  pension  of  thirty  dollars  per  month,  whatever  his  length 
of  service  or  age.  In  some  cases  of  total  disability  received 
while  in  actual  service,  the  pension  amounts  to  as  much  as 
$72  per  month. 

If  the  pensioner  was  an  officer  he  receives  a  higher 
pension  than  does  a  private,  the  amount  depending  some- 
what on  his  rank. 

The  soldiers  and  sailors  in  the  Spanish-American  War 
receive  an  invalid  or  disability  pension.  Those  who  served 
for  sixty  days  or  more  in  the  Mexican  War  of  1846-48 
receive  a  service  pension  of  thirty  dollars  a  month. 

If  the  soldier  who  was  drawing  a  pension  or  was  entitled 
to  one  has  died,  leaving  a  widow,  she  receives  a  pension  during 
her  widowhood,  as  do  his  children  until  they  are  sixteen 
years  of  age — the  amount  being  somewhat  less  than  the 
soldier  himself  received  or  was  entitled  to  receive. 

159.  Department  of  Agriculture. — ^This  department, 
formerly  a  bureau  of  the  Department  of  the  Interior,  was 
raised  to  the  rank  of  an  executive  department  in  1889.  It 
collects  and  disseminates  useful  knowledge  relating  to  the 
state  of  the  crops,  and  to  agriculture  in  general.  It  conducts 
experiments  in  various  crops  and  distributes  among  the 
people  such  plants  and  seeds  of  garden  and  farm  products 
as  these  experiments  show  are  best  adapted  to  the  soil  and 
will  be  of  the  greatest  usefulness  to  mankind.  It  endeavors 
by  experiments  to  discover  the  best  fertilizers,  and  the  most 
practicable  methods  of  preventing  soil  from  washing  and 
becoming  impoverished,  and  of  renewing  old  and  exhausted 
soils.  It  also  endeavors  to  discover  effective  and  inexpensive 
cures  for  infectious  diseases  among  cattle,  sheep,  hogs,  horses, 
chickens,  turkeys,  and  useful  methods  of  exterminating 
pests  to  cotton,  grapes,  apples  and  other  plant  life. 


THE  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENTS.  201 

It  protects  the  national  forests,  and  it  is  through  it  that 
the  Government  co-operates  with  the  States  in  constructing 
and  improving  pubHc  or  post  roads. 

It  Hcenses  warehouses  in  which  are  stored  cotton,  grain, 
wool  and  other  agricultural  products  designed  for  interstate 
or  foreign  commerce,  and  inspects  all  such  products  and  sees 
to  it  thatjthey  are  correctly  graded  and  that  they  are  what 
they  are  represented  to  be. 

Connected  with  it  is  the  Weather  Bureau,  which  has 
stations  throughout  the  United  States  and  in  neighboring 
countries  where  meteorological  observations  are  made  and 
from  them  weather  forecasts  are  made  and  published,  and 
warnings  of  coming  storms,  cold  waves,  frosts  and  heavy 
snows  are  given. 

Connected  with  it,  also,  is  the  pure-food  department, 
called  the  Bureau  of  Chemistry,  whose  duty  it  is  to  discover 
if  any  article  of  food  or  drugs  being  shipped  from  one  State 
to  another  or  a  foreign  country  has  been  adulterated  or  mis- 
branded,  and  if  so,  to  cause  the  shipper  and  dealer  to  be 
prosecuted — the  purpose  being  to  put  a  stop  to  the  adultera- 
tion of  foods  and  drugs  produced  in  one  State  and  sold  in 
another,  and  to  so  labeling  either  as  to  deceive  consumers. 

160.     The  Department  of  Commerce  was  created  in  1903 

"to  foster,  promote  and  develop  the  foreign  and  domestic 
commerce,  the  mining,  manufacturing,  shipping  and  fisheries 
industries,  and  the  transportation  facilities  of  the  United 
States."  It  has  a  bureau  of  navigation,  another  of  coast 
and  geodetic  survey,  another  of  statistics,  and  it  also  has 
charge  of  taking  and  publishing  the  census.  There  is  another 
bureau  of  manufacturing  "to  foster,  promote  and  develop 
the  various  manufacturing  industries  of  the  United  States, 
and  markets  for  the  same  at  home  and  abroad,  by  gathering, 
compiling  and  publishing  useful  information  concerning  such 
industries  and  such  markets,  and  concerning  corporations 
engaged  in  commerce  among  the  States  and  foreign  countries, 


202       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

and  to  gather  such  information  as  will  enable  the  President  to 
recommend  to  Congress  proper  legislation  for  regulating 
such  corporations  in  the  interest  of  the  whole  people."  It 
is  designed  to  be  the  department  of  general  publicity  of  the 
t)usiness  affairs  of  the  country. 

160a.  The  Department  of  Labor  was  created  March  4, 
1913,  "to  foster,  promote  and  develop  the  welfare  of  the 
wage-earners  of  the  United  States,  to  improve  th-eir  working 
conditions,  and  to  advance  their  opportunities  for  profitable 
employment."  The  Secretary  of  Labor  has  power  to  act  as 
mediator  and  to  appoint  commissioners  of  conciliation  in 
labor  disputes  whenever  in  his  judgment  the  interests  of  indus- 
trial peace  may  require  it  to  be  done.  It  was  for  the  pur- 
pose of  fostering  and  promoting  the  welfare  of  all  such  wage- 
earners  that  the  Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor  was 
divided  into  two  departments  in  1913,  one  of  which  was  to 
be  henceforth  known  as  the  Department  of  Commerce,  and 
the  other  as  the  Department  of  Labor.  Connected  with  the 
department  are  bureaus  which  look  after  the  enforcement 
of  the  naturalization  and  immigration  laws;  and  to  see  to 
it  that  the  country  is  not  imposed  upon  by  persons  who  seek 
to  unworthily  become  citizens  or  residents  of  the  United 
States. 

160b.  Growth  of  Departments. — It  will  be  seen  by  a 
consideration  of  the  dates  at  which  the  later  departments 
have  been  created  and  the  objects  which  they  were  designed 
to  serve  and  conserve,  that  they  in  a  way  portray  the  growth 
and  development  of  the  nation  and  of  its  industrial  and  social 
life. 

The  Interior  Department  was  created  after  the  people 
had  begun  to  crowd  into  the  great  West  and  to  acquire  home- 
steads and  to  settle  the  public  lands.  After  the  Mexican 
War  and  the  Civil  War  were  fought,  the  Government  took 
up  the  great  task,  through  that  department,  of  granting 
bounties  and   pensions  to  old  soldiers;  and  as  civilization 


THE  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENTS.  203 

pushed  out  onto  the  plains  and  into  mountainous  regions, 
it  took  up,  through  the  same  department,  the  beneficial 
work  of  irrigating  arid  lands. 

As  population  grew  more  dense,  successful  farming 
became  more  and  more  a  matter  of  national  concern.  Agri- 
culture has  always  been  one  of  America's  chief  industries, 
and  must  ever  be.  All  wealth  has  its  origin  in  things  dug 
out  of  the  ground.  All  other  wealth  consists  in  transporting 
the  things  produced  in  field  and  mine  and  forest,  and  trans- 
forming them  into  some  sort  of  manufactured  product.  As  the 
nation  grew  in  strength  and  came  more  and  more  to  ap- 
preciate the  importance  of  agriculture,  it  created  the  De- 
partment of  Agriculture  in  1889,  in  order  that  the  Govern- 
ment, in  any  proper  way — by  suggestion,  by  experimenta- 
tion, by  useful  knowledge  derived  from  those  experiments, 
and  by  other  methods — might  aid  the  farmer  to  make  his 
industry  more  profitable,  and  in  order  that  mines  might  be 
more  humanely  and  successfully  operated  and  their  great 
resources  of  coal,  gas,  zinc,  iron,  lead,  fertilizers  and  chem- 
icals might  not  be  wasted. 

But  surplus  crops  and  ores  are  not  of  themselves  of  any 
great  value.  To  be  of  value  they  must  be  carried  to  con- 
sumers, and  often  they  must  be  transformed  by  the  manu- 
facturer into  useful  commodities.  Those  things  constitute 
commerce — the  carriage  of  things  produced  in  field  and  mine 
and  forest,  and  their  manufacture  into  useful  commodities, 
and  their  sale  to  those  who  wish  to  buy.  Commerce  is,  then, 
of  great  importance.  It  makes  the  labor  of  the  farmer  and 
miner  profitable.  Hence,  the  means  of  transportation — 
roads,  railroads  and  ships^and  the  instruments  and  methods 
of  manufacture,  are  the  concern  of  the  whole  nation.  All 
men  are  interested  in  quick,  easy,  cheap  and  safe  methods 
of  carrying  the  surplus  products  of  farm  and  mine  to  the 
manufacturer,  and  in  the  transformation  of  them  into  articles 
suitable  for  use;  which  is  the  same  as  saying  that  the  whole 


204       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

nation  is  concerned  in  having  good  public  roads,  and  sufficient 
railroad  facilities,  and  ships  to  carry  our  surplus  products 
to  foreign  countries  where  they  are  needed  and  can  be  sold 
at  a  profit,  and  in  factories  and  methods  of  profitable  manu- 
facture. The  United  States  have  always  produced  more 
corn  and  cotton  than  they  could  consume,  and  usually  more 
wheat  and  meats;  on  the  other  hand,  nearly  all  the  teas 
and  coffees  and  much  of  the  sugar  "which  they  consume,  which 
is  a  very  large  amount,  come  from  foreign  lands.  Our  people 
have  been  great  inventors,  and  have  surpassed  all  other 
nations  in  inventing  machines  that  multiply  man's  power  to 
produce  useful  things.  No  other  nation  has  such  fine  farm- 
ing or  factory  machinery.  We  have  become  a  great  manu- 
facturing people.  Articles  of  almost  every  conceivable  kind 
made  in  America  find  their  way  into  foreign  lands.  We  are 
so  blessed  with  rich  soil  and  rain  and  sunshine,  with  railroads 
and  rivers  and  harbors,  with  peace  and  liberty,  that  a  part 
of  our  business  in  the  world  is  to  help  feed  and  clothe  those 
peoples  who  have  been  far  less  fortunate.  Out  of  all  these 
things  has  grown  up  a  great  commerce,  at  home  and  abroad, 
and  it  was  to  promote  and  facilitate  that  commerce  and  to 
regulate,  in  the  interests  of  the  whole  people,  the  corpora- 
tions which  carry  it  on,  that  Congress  in  1903  created  the 
Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor. 

But  railroads  and  mines  and  factories  have  passed  largely 
into  the  hands  of  great  corporations,  which  employ  many 
thousands  of  persons.  The  welfare  of  those  persons  is  also 
of  great  concern  to  the  whole  nation.  The  man  who  goes 
at  early  morn  into  mine  or  factory  and  toils  till  dewy  eve 
to  bring  forth  the  things  that  clothe  or  add  to  the  com- 
forts of  others,  and  the  man  who  risks  his  life  at  all  hours 
of  the  day  and  night  in  all  kinds  of  weather  to  run  a  rail- 
road train  or  a  street  car,  is  rendering  a  useful  service  to 
all  other  persons,  and  the  happiness  and  prosperity  of  the 
entire  public  are  intimately  connected  with  his  health  and 


THE  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENTS.  205 

home-life,  and  the  public  is  vitally  concerned  in  having 
just  and  fair  treatment  meted  out  to  him,  and  to  the  many 
thousands  of  less  conspicuous  laborers  employed  in  other 
industries.  It  was  with  the  view  of  fostering  and  promoting 
the  welfare  of  all  such  wage-earners  that  the  Department  of 
Commerce  and  Labor  was  divided  into  two  departments  in 
1913,  one  of  which  was  to  be  henceforth  known  as  the  Depart- 
ment of  Commerce,  and  the  other  as  the  Department  of 
Labor.  Thereby  the  Government  gave  expression  to  the 
concern  and  interest  of  the  entire  nation  in  all  those  persons 
who  toil  for  others. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  new  executive  departments  have 
been  added  as  the  nation  has  grown  and  its  industrial  life 
has  developed;  and  it  will  also  be  seen  that  all  the  new  de- 
partments created  in  the  last  seventy  years  or  more  were 
created  for  the  purpose  of  fostering  the  industries  of  the 
nation  and  promoting  the  welfare  of  the  home-maker,  and 
thereby  our  aspirations  as  a  people  have  been  expressed. 

Questions  on  Chapter  XVI. 

1.  How  is  the  executive  business  of  the  Government  divided?    (151) 

2.  Name  the  heads  of  the  departments?     (151) 

3.  What  do  they  constitute  and  what  are  they?     (151) 

4.  Discuss  the  Cabinet.     (151) 

5.  What  are  the  principal  duties  of  the  Secretary  of  State?     (152) 

6.  Discuss  ambassadors,  ministers  and  consuls.     (152) 

7.  Recite  some  of  the  things  said  of  the  Treasury  Department. 

(153) 

8.  What  great  governmental  work  is  done  through  this  depart- 

ment?    (153) 

9.  Discuss  sub-treasuries.     (153)     Mints.     (153) 

10.  Read  carefully  what  is  said  about  Federal  rural  credits.     (153a) 

11.  How  many  Federal  Land  Banks?     (153a) 

12.  Discuss  National  Farm  Loan  Associations?     (153a) 

13.  Can  any  one  except  a  borrowing  farmer  be  a  stockholder  or 

director?     (153a) 

14.  How  much  capital  must  each  bank  have  and  how  is  it  obtained? 

(153a) 


206       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

15.  What  size  may  loans  be,  and  how  long  do  they  run?     (153a) 

16.  What  is  one  of  the  fine  features  of  the  system?     (153a) 

17.  Can  a  bank  loan  more  money  than  its  organized  capital?     How- 

does  it  obtain  it?     (153a) 

18.  When  notes  are  paid  what  is  done  with  the  bonds?     (153a) 

19.  Give  the  five  steps  showing  how  the  bank  obtains  the  money 

with  which  it  makes  loans.     (153a) 

20.  What  rate  of  interest  can  notes  bear?     (153a) 

21.  Are  the   notes  and   bonds  taxable  for  any   purpose?     (153a) 

What  effect  do  you  think  that  will  have  on  the  selling  price 
of  the  bonds? 

22.  What  effect  will  it  have  on  the  rate  of  interest  the  notes  must 

bear?     Why?     (153a) 

23.  For  what  purpose  can  money  be  borrowed  and  by  whom?     (153a) 

24.  Who  supervised  the  entire  system?     (153a) 

25.'     What  is  the  purpose  of  the  board  and  its  assistants?     (153a) 

26.  How  many  directors  of  a  bank  must  be  borrowing  farmers? 

(153a) 

27.  What  are  the  duties  of  the  Secretary  of  War?     (154) 

28.  What  sub-department  is  closely  connected  with  it?     (154) 

29.  Discuss  the  Department  of  Justice.     (155) 

30.  What  is  said  of  the  Post  Office  Department?     (156) 

31.  Discuss  the  Navy  and  the  rights  of  our  citizens  on  the  high 

seas.     (157) 

32.  What  is  said  of  the  Department  of  the  Interior?     (158) 

33.  Discuss  Irrigation.     (158)  * 

34.  Define  a  pension,  and  the  two  kinds.     (158) 

35.  Read  carefully  what  is  further  said  on  the  subject  of   pensions. 

(158) 

36.  Discuss  the  Agricultural  Department  and  with  it  (1)  national 

forests,   (2)   post  roads,    (3)   Weather  Bureau,  and   (4)   pure 
foods  and  drugs.     (159) 

37.  For  what  purpose  was  the  Department  of  Commerce  created? 

(160) 

38.  What  about  the  Census?     (160) 

39.  For  what  purpose  was  the  Department  of  Labor  created?     (160a) 

40.  Read  carefully  what  is  said  concerning  the  growth  of  the  de- 

partments.    (160b) 

41.  In  what  does  all  wealth  have  its  origin?     (160b) 

42.  Can  you  find  in  these  answers  a  reason  for  creating  the  Depart- 

ment of  Agriculture?     (160b) 

43.  What  is  commerce?     (160b) 


THE  JUDICIAL  DEPARTMENT.  207 

44.  Are  the  means  of  transportation  the  concern  of  the    nation? 

(160b) 

45.  What  is  a  part  of  our  business  in  the  world?     Why?     (160b) 

46.  Can  you  find  in  all  these  things  a  reason  for  the  Department  of 

Commerce?     (160b) 

47.  Is  the  welfare  of  persons  employed  in  factories,  mines  and  on 

railroads  a   matter   of  concern  to  the  whole  nation?     (160b) 
How  about  other  laborers?     (160b) 

48.  How  have  the  executive  departments  grown?     (160b) 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

THE  JUDICIAL  DEPARTMENT. 

161.  Necessity  For. — By  the  judicial  department  of 
the  Government  is  meant  its  courts.  Courts  are  a  necessary- 
part  of  republican  government.  They  are  the  civilized  man's 
methods  of  settling  disputes  and  controversies.  Without 
them  the  American  people  would  not  have  the  liberty  they 
now  enjoy,  nor  be  peaceable  and  orderly  in  the  enforcement 
of  law  and  order.  Courts  had  existed  in  the  colonies  long 
before  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution.  But  before  that 
there  had  been  no  United  States  courts.  There  had  really 
been  no  Union  prior  to  the  adoption  of  the  Articles  of  Con- 
federation, and  one  great  weakness  of  the  Government  under 
those  articles  had  been  a  lack  of  courts  of  its  own  to  deter- 
mine disputes  in  which  the  laws  of  Congress  were  involved. 
They  left  to  the  State  courts  the  duty  of  enforcing  those  laws, 
and  the  result  was  a  lack  of  harmony  as  to  how  far  Congress 
had  a  right  to  extend  them.  Those  courts  in  one  State  would 
decide  that  those  laws  were  binding  on  the  State  or  its  people, 
and  those  of  another  State  would  decide  to  the  contrary. 
Hence,  the  laws  of  Congress  became  of  lij;tle  force.  There 
was  no  one  court  in  which  final  authority  was  lodged.  The 
framers   of   the   Constitution,    therefore,    wisely   determined 


208       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

that  the  Union  needed  courts  of  its  own  to  interpret  and 
enforce  its  laws,  and  to  settle  disputes  between  two  or  more 
States,  or  between  citizens  of  different  States.  The  creation 
of  United  States  courts  by  the  Constitution  did  as  much 
to  make  the  Union  a  real  government  as  any  other  of  its 
provisions.  Under  the  Articles  of  Confederation  the  Govern- 
ment really  had  only  one  department,  the  legislative,  but 
the  Constitution  added  a  President  and  the  courts,  and  it 
thereby  made  the  United  States  government  correspond  in 
its  main  features  to  the  State  governments  already  existing. 

No  government  can  be  dependent  on  another  for  the  en- 
forcement of  its  authority.  Wherever  the  rights  of  any  man 
under  the  laws  of  Congress  are  involved,  the  Government 
should  have  its  own  courts  to  determine  the  extent  of  those 
rights.  Besides,  controversies  are  sure  to  arise  between 
citizens  of  different  States,  and  possibly  between  States 
themselves,  and  in  order  that  harmony  may  prevail  in  the 
whole  Union,  it  is  necessary  that  there  should  be  courts  of 
the  General  Government  authorized  to  settle  those  con- 
troversies. Thus  we  see  the  necessity  for  United  States 
courts. 

Upon  those  courts  is  devolved  the  duty  of  applying  the 
laws  of  Congress  in  individual  cases.  Congress  passes  laws, 
but  it  cannot  enforce  them.  The  duty  of  saying  to  what 
particular  individuals  those  laws  apply  and  just  how  far  they 
apply  belongs  to  the  courts,  and  a  court  is  necessary  in  order 
that  before  they  are  applied  against  any  person  he  may  have 
a  full  Hearing  before  an  impartial  tribunal,  and  that  means 
an  impartial  judge  and  an  impartial  jury  of  his  fellow-citizens. 
It  is  by  applying  them  in  that  way  that  they  come  to  have  a 
uniform  meaning,  and  that  the  people  come  to  understand 
that  meaning,  and  how  far  they  must  obey  them. 

162.  Where  Vested.— The  Constitution  says  that  "the 
judicial  power  of  the  United  States  shall  be  vested  in  one 


THE  JUDICIAL  DEPARTMENT.  ~  200 

Supreme  Court,  and  in  such  inferior  courts  as  the  Congress 
may  from  time  to  time  ordain  and  establish." 

The  Supreme  Court  consists  of  a  Chief  Justice  and  eight 
associate  justices,  and  this  number  may  be  increased  by 
Congress.  All  its  sessions  are  held  in  Washington.  Its 
jurisdiction  is  almost  entirely  appellate;  that  is,  causes  are 
not  begun  in  it,  but  in  an  inferior  court  and  taken  to  it  by 
appeal.  Habeas  corpus  cases,  however,  may  originate  in 
this  court,  as  may,  also,  cases  aflfecting  ambassadors  or 
ministers  and  those  to  which  a  State  is  a  party. 

The  inferior  courts  are  four,  and  all  were  established  by 
Congress.  They  are  District  Courts,  Courts  of  Appeals, 
the  Court  of  Customs  Appeals,  and  the  Court  of  Claims. 
All  these  are  different  from  the  courts  created  by  the  State. 
They  are  sometimes  called  "Federal  courts,"  while  the  others 
are  designated  as  "State  courts." 

1.  The  district  courts  are  the  trial  courts  of  the  Gov- 
ernment. It  is  in  them  that  nearly  all  suits  involving  Federal 
rights  or  Federal  laws  are  brought  and  tried.  Each  State 
constitutes  one  or  more  districts,  and  there  is  one  district 
judge  for  each  district,  and  in  a  few  of  the  districts  more 
than  one.  Each  district  is  divided  into  one  or  more  divi- 
sions, and  sessions  of  the  court  are  held  in  one  or  more  of 
the  principal  towns  in  the  division.  For  instance,  in  Mis- 
souri there  are  the  Eastern  District  and  the  Western  District; 
and  in  the  Eastern  District  there  are  three  divisions  (the 
Eastern,  Northern  and  Southern),  and  court  is  held  in  the 
Eastern  Division  at  St.  Louis  and  Rolla,  in  the  Northern  Divi- 
sion at  Hannibal,  and  in  the  Southern  Division  at  Cape 
Girardeau;  and  in  the  Western  District  there  are  five  divisions, 
and  court  is  held  in  the  Western  Division  thereof  at  Kansas 
City  and  Chillicothe,  in  the  Southwestern  Division  at  Joplin, 
in  the  St.  Joseph  Division  at  St.  Joseph,  in  the  Central  Divi- 
sion at  Jefferson  City,  and  in  the  Southern  Division  at  Spring- 
field.    Usually  two  terms  are  held  at  each  of  these  towns 

14    "^ 


210       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

each  year,  and  the  division  embraces  the  counties  closest 
about  the  towns.  At  each  place  of  holding  court  there  is  a 
marshal  or  deputy  marshal,  and  a  clerk  or  deputy  clerk,  and 
a  grand  jury  to  indict  violators  of  the  United  States  laws, 
and  a  carefully  selected  petit  jury  before  whom  are  tried  both 
criminal  and  civil  cases.  These  district  courts  try  persons 
charged  with  violating  the  criminal  laws  passed  by  Congress, 
suits  to  enforce  the  collection  of  the  internal  revenue,  cases 
involving  interstate  commerce,  cases  arising  under  the  postal 
laws  or  on  the  high  seas  or  involving  copyrights  or  patents, 
bankruptcy  cases,  and  suits  between  citizens  of  different 
States  where  the  amount  involved  is  more  than  three  thousand 
dollars. 

2.  The  whole  country  is  divided  into  nine  circuits, 
hence  one  circuit  will  embrace  several  States;  thus,  the 
Eighth  Circuit  embraces  Missouri  and  twelve  other  States. 
In  each  circuit  there  is  a  Circuit  Court  of  Appeals,  com- 
posed of  three  judges,  and  in  each  circuit  there  are  three  or 
more  circuit  judges,  and  three  of  these,  or  two  of  them  and 
one  of  the  justices  of  the  Supreme  Court,  or  two  of  them  and 
a  district  judge,  constitute  the  court  of  appeals  of  that  cir- 
cuit. They  hold  court  at  three  or  four  of  the  principal  cities 
in  the  circuit;  for  instance,  in  the  Eighth  Circuit  sessions 
are  held  at  St.  Louis,  St.  Paul  and  Denver  or  Cheyenne. 
They  are  not  trial  courts.  >They  have  no  juries.  They  hear 
no  witnesses.  They  are  appellate  courts  for  the  review  of 
cases  tried  in  the  district  courts  and  appealed  to  them.  When 
a  case  is  appealed  to  one  of  them,  copies  of  the  evidence, 
pleadings,  instructions  and  other  record  matters  are  sent  to 
it  and  it  reviews  these  and  determines  whether  or  not  the 
case  was  properly  tried. 

Not  all  cases  appealed  from  the  district  courts  go  to 
them.  Suits  appealed  from  the  Supreme  Court  of  a  State, 
and  suits  involving  a  construction  of  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  and  a  few  others  go  directly  to  the  Supreme 


THE  JUDICIAL  DEPARTMENT.  211 

Court;  but  most  cases  are  appealable  only  to  the  court  of 
appeals,  and  usually  its  decision  is  final. 

3.  The  Court  of  Customs  Appeals,  composed  of  five 
judges,  sits  at  Washington  and  may  sit  in  any  part  of  the 
country.  The  tariff  laws  of  the  United  States  are  compli- 
cated and  often  difficult  to  understand.  All  goods  are  by 
them  divided  into  classes,  and  the  amount  of  tariff  tax  an 
imported  article  must  pay  depends  on  the  class  to  which  it 
is  assigned.  There  are  appraisers  to  classify  imports  and  to 
fix  their  value,  and  designate  the  tariff  taxes  they  must  pay. 
If  any  importer  is  dissatisfied  with  the  appraisers'  classifica- 
tion of  his  goods,  he  can  appeal  to  this  court,  and  its  decision 
is  final.  Its  only  duty  is  to  try  cases  involving  the  tariff 
laws,  and  to  review,  on  appeal,  the  classification  of  imported 
goods  as  made  by  the  appraisers,  and  determine  the  amount 
of  tariff  taxes  they  must  pay. 

4.  The  Court  of  Claims,  composed  of  five  judges, 
sits  in  Washington  to  pass  upon  claims  against  the  United 
States.  The  Government  cannot  be  sued,  but  it  frequently 
happens  that  it  becomes  indebted  to  some  one  who  has  ren- 
dered it  service,  or  to  one  whose  property  it  has  bought  or 
appropriated  or  damaged.  This  court  investigates  such 
claims,  and  if  it  finds  them  just  it  so  reports  to  Congress, 
which  usually,  but  not  always,  makes  an  appropriation  of 
money  to  pay  them.  But  the  Congress  has  the  power  to 
refuse  such  payment,  and  neither  the  President  nor  any  court 
can  compel  Congress  or  any  officer  to  pay  any  claim  against 
the  Government. 

163.  Checks  on  Congress. — The  Supreme  Court  is  a 
constant  check  on  Congress.  That  body  may  pass  a  law 
which  this  court  may  nullify  by  declaring  it  to  be  in  conflict 
with  the  Constitution,  and  if  the  President  or  any  United 
States  judge  after  that  persists  in  enforcing  it  Congress  may 
impeach  him  for  doing  so.     The  Constitution  does  not  say 


212       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

that  the  Supreme  Court  shall  have  power  to  declare  a  law 
unconstitutional.  Its  authority  to  do  that  is  primarily  found 
in  the  oath  of  its  judges.  The  Constitution  binds  the  judges 
of  that  Court  (and  all  other  public  officers)  "by  an  oath  or 
affirmation  to  support  this  Constitution."  Their  plain  duty 
then,  when  a  law  comes  before  them  to  be  enforced,  is  to 
determine  whether  or  not  it  is  constitutional,  and  if  they  de- 
clare it  is  not,  that  is  the  end  of  it.  The  laws  of  Congress  for 
a  long  time  have  directed  the  attention  of  this  court  to  the 
duty  of  determining  the  constitutionality  of  a  law  of  Con- 
gress or  of  any  particular  State,  and  for  an  equally  long  time 
all  the  people  have  assumed  that  that  duty  most  appropri- 
ately belongs  to  that  highest  judicial  body.  Hence,  it  may 
be  truthfully  said  that  it  is  the  especial  duty  of  this  court  to 
guard  the  Constitution,  and  that  whenever  it  fails  to  nullify 
any  law  that  conflicts  with  the  true  meaning  and  purpose  of 
the  Constitution  that  instrument  will  to  that  extent  be  of  no 
value  to  the  people. 

164.  Tenure  of  Office. — Judges  of  all  Federal  courts 
are  appointed  by  the  President,  by  and  with  the  advice  and 
consent  of  the  Senate.-  If  the  Senate  refuse  to  confirm  the 
President's  appointment,  he  makes  another  selection.  If 
the  Senate  approves  his  appointment,  the  judge  holds  office 
"during  good  behavior;"  that  is,  he  holds  office  for  life,  un- 
less he  voluntarily  retires  or  is  removed.  For  corruption  or 
oppression  in  office  he  may  be  impeached  by  Congress  and 
removed ;  and  for  private  crimes  he  may  be  tried  as  any  other 
citizen.  But  aside  from  these  exceptions,  he  may  hold  office 
during  life.  If  he  desires,  after  reaching  the  age  of  seventy 
years  he  can  retire,  if  he  has  served  ten  years,  and  his  salary 
will  continue  until  his  death.  It  was  supposed  that  if  such 
a  provision  were  made  for  these  judges  they  would  be  inde- 
pendent and  free  to  do  right  without  fear  or  favor. 

165.  Salaries. — And  the  same  idea  led  to  the  provision 
that  the  salary  of  no  judge  shall  be  diminished  while  he  re- 


THE  JUDICIAL  DEPARTMENT.  213 

mains  in  office.  His  salary  may  be  increased,  but  it  cannot 
be  made  less  than  it  was  at  the  time  of  his  appointment. 
Thus  the  salary  of  the  Chief  Justice  in  1789  was  made  $4,000; 
in  1873,  $10,500;  and  in  1911,  $15,000.  His  salary  has  never 
been  reduced.  Each  of  the  other  justices  of  the  Supreme 
Court  receives  $14,500  per  year;  a  circuit  judge,  $7,000;  a 
district  judge,  $6,000.  And  in  some  cases  the  necessary 
traveling  expenses  incurred  by  them  in  attending  court  are 
paid  by  the  Government. 

166.  Jurisdiction  of  What  Causes. — Usually  the  Fed- 
eral courts  have  nothing  to  do  with  disputes  between  citizens 
of  the  same  State,  nor  with  punishing  the  violations  of  the 
laws  of  any  particular  State.  Before  they  can  interfere 
in  controversies  wholly  within  a  State  it  must  be  made  to 
appear  that  some  of  the  parties  have  been  denied  some  right 
guaranteed  by  the  Constitution  or  laws  of  the  United  States. 
Federal  courts  concern  themselves  almost  entirely  with  dis- 
putes between  States,  and  disputes  between  citizens  of  dif- 
ferent States.  They  also  settle  controversies  at  sea  between 
ship  companies,  passengers  and  shippers,  and  the  rights  of 
aliens  and  citizens  under  treaties.  And  they  of  course  settle 
disputes  which  arise  over  commerce  among  the  States,  and 
injuries  to  railroad  employees  engaged  in  interstate  com- 
merce. 

167.  Trial  by  Jury. — The  Constitution  says  that  "the 
trial  of  all  crimes,  except  in  cases  of  impeachments,  shall  be 
by  jury;  and  such  trial  shall  be  held  in  the  State  where  the 
said  crimes  shall  have  been  committed."  And  by  the  Sev- 
enth Amendment  it  is  provided  that  in  suits  at  common  law 
for  money  or  property,  where  the  value  of  the  thing  sued 
for  "shall  exceed  twenty  dollars,  the  right  of  trial  by  jury 
shall  be  preserved."  Thus,  trial  by  jury  in  suits  on  con- 
tracts and  for  damages,  and  in  criminal  cases,  is  a  part  of  the 
fundamental  law.     But  trial  by  jury  was  no  new  thing;  it  had 


214        CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

existed  in  this  country  long  before  the  Constitution  was 
adopted;  in  fact,  from  the  time  of  the  first  settlements,  and 
in  England  long  before  that. 

168.  In  Criminal  Cases. — The  Constitution  not  only 
says  that  "the  trial  of  all  crimes  .  .  .  shall  be  by  jury,"  but 
also  that  "such  trial  shall  be  held  in  the  State  where  such 
crimes  shall  have  been  committed,"  and  the  Sixth  Amend- 
ment went  further  and  said  that  "the  accused  shall  enjoy  the 
right  to  a  speedy  and  public  trial  by  an  impartial  jury  of  the 
State  or  district  wherein  the  crime  shall  have  been  com- 
mitted, .  .  .  and  to  be  informed  of  the  nature  and  cause  of 
the  accusation;  to  be  confronted  with  the  witnesses  against 
him;  to  have  compulsory  process  for  obtaining  witnesses  in 
his  favor,  and  tp  have  the  assistance  of  counsel  for  his  de- 
fense." 

1.  The  trial  is  to  be  by  a  jury  of  the  district  for  two 
reasons:  First,  it  adds  to  the  strength  of  society  to  require 
each  community  to  say  for  itself  whether  or  not  it  will  pun- 
ish a  crime  committed  in  its  own  midst.  Responsibility  for 
the  maintenance  of  order  sobers  a  people.  It  leads  inhabit- 
ants of  the  community  to  feel  that  the  burden  of  preserving 
order  is  upon  them.  The  best  way  to  qualify  a  people  for 
self-government  is  to  permit  them  to  share  in  the  govern- 
ment and  be  responsible  for  the  enforcement  of  its  laws  and 
authority.  In  the  next  place,  the  citizens  of  the  district 
are  likely  to  be  less  prejudiced  against  the  accused,  and  less 
likely  to  be  indifferent  to  his  rights,  and  hence  more  likely  to 
be  controlled  by  the  principles  of  justice,  than  those  of  a 
district  far  away. 

2.  A  just  government  will  insure  accused  persons 
a  speedy  trial.  In  some  countries  men  are  thrown  into  a 
prison  for  small  offenses  and  kept  there  without  trial  for 
years  and  even  a  lifetime.  No  one  knows  whether  they  are 
guilty  or  not,  and  as  a  result  the  people  look  upon  the  govern- 
ment as  cruel  and  oppressive.     A  trial  should  not  be  so  post- 


THE  JUDICIAL  DEPARTMENT.  215 

poned  as  to  deprive  society  of  protection  against  criminals, 
nor  yet  be  so  hurried  as  to  deny  the  accused  a  fair  trial. 

3.  All  trials  should  be  public.  If  they  could  be  con- 
ducted in  secret  the  enemies  of  the  accused  might  so  manipu- 
late things  as  to  condemn  him  out  of  hate,  and  not  for 
violating  a  law  of  the  land.  Besides  public  trials  afford 
less  opportunity  to  bribe  judges,  juries  and  witnesses.  Unfair 
and  corrupt  practices  cannot  thrive  in  the  blazing  light  of 
publicity'.  When  the  trial  is  public,  and  speedy,  and  the 
accused  is  condemned  by  an  impartial  jury  of  his  own  com- 
munity, in  the  choosing  of  which  he  had  something  to  do, 
justice  is  more  likely  to  be  done  and  the  good  of  society  con- 
served. 

4.  The  accused  has  the  right  to  be  confronted  with  the 
witnesses  against  him.  They  meet  each  other  face  to  face 
at  the  trial.  He  cannot  be  tried  in  his  absence.  If  he  escapes, 
the  trial  must  be  postponed  until  he  is  captured  and  brought 
into  court.  This  is  necessary,  lest  some  advantage  be  taken 
of  him  in  his  absence.  Depositions,  or  written  testimony, 
in  his  behalf,  may  be  taken  elsewhere  and  read  at  the  trial; 
but  the  witnesses  against  him  must  appear  at  the  trial  and 
testify  in  open  court. 

5.  The  court  will  also  compel  witnesses  in  his  favor, 
if  their  testimony  is  shown  to  be  material  and  valuable  to 
him,  to  come  into  court  and  testify,  whether  he  be  able  to 
pay  their  expenses  or  not.  It  would  be  clearly  unjust  to 
condemn  any  person  if  there  are  witnesses  somewhere  who 
could  prove  him  not  guilty,  but  whom  he  cannot  obtain 
because  of  a  lack  of  means.  The  Government  does  not 
wish  to  punish  the  innocent,  and  in  order  that?  it  may  never 
do  so  it  grants  to  the  accused  "compulsory  process"  to  compel 
witnesses  to  come  into  court  and  testify  in  his  behalf  what 
they  actually  know. 

6.  The  accused  is  also  entitled  to  a  lawyer  or  counsel 
to  ^Lssist  in  his  defense.     If  he  is  poor  and  unable  to  employ 


216       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

counsel,  the  court  can  compel  members  of  the  bar  to  defend 
him,   free  of  cost. 

All  these  privileges,  deemed  by  the  framers  of  the  Con- 
stitution necessary  to  a  fair  trial,  are  guaranteed  to  one  liable 
to  have  his  life  or  liberty  taken  from  him  by  the  court.  The 
court  must  avoid  every  form  of  cruelty  and  oppression. 
But  if,  in  spite  of  all  these  advantages  for  proving  his  inno- 
cence, an  impartial  jury  of  his  countrymen  declare  him 
guilty  as  charged  in  the  indictment,  the  accused  must  be 
punished  in  order  to  put  a  stop  to  crime. 

169.  In  Civil  Cases. — The  Constitution  as  originally 
adopted  said  nothing  about  trial  by  jury  in  a  contest  for 
property.  It  seemed  to.  be  assumed  that  a  jury  would  be 
allowed  in  such  cases  according  to  the  custom  which  had  long 
obtained  among  all  English-speaking  people.  But  it  was 
soon  determined  to  remove  all  doubt  about  the  matter  by  an 
amendment  to  the  Constitution.  By  Amendment  Seven  it 
was  declared  that  ''in  suits  at  common  law,  where  the  value 
in  controversy  shall  exceed  twenty  dollars,  the  right  to  trial 
by  jury  shall  be  preserved,  and  no  fact  tried  by  a  jury  shall 
be  otherwise  re-examined  in  any  court  of  the  United  States 
than  according  to  the  rules  of  the  common  law."  This 
amendment  did  not  create  a  jury  trial  to  determine  property 
rights;  that  method  had  long  existed;  it  simply  said  that  it 
should  be  "preserved;"  that  neither  the  courts  nor  the  Con- 
gress should  have  power  to  take  it  away. 

It  is  the  peculiar  province  of  the  jury  to  determine  issues 
of  fact.  If  the  suit  is  for  breach  of  contract,  they  decide 
(1)  whether  or  not  there  was  a  contract,  (2)  and  if  so,  whether 
or  not  it  has  been  broken,  and  (3)  if  broken,  how  much  has 
been  the  damage.  If  one  sues  to  recover  damages  from  a 
railroad  for  negligence  in  breaking  his  arm,  the  jury  decide 
(1)  whether  or  not  the  railroad  w^  negligent,  (2)  and  if  so, 
whether  or  not  that  negligence  resulted  in  breaking  the  arm, 
and  (3)  if  so,  how  much  is  the  damage.     All  these  are  ques- 


THE  JUDICIAL  DEPARTMENT.  217 

tions  of  fact,  which  the  jury  are  to  decide,  and  the  law  is  that 
they  must  find  what  facts  are  true,  and  make  up  their  verdict 
accordingly.  Neither  the  judge  nor  the  appellate  court  will 
interfere  with  their  verdict  if  there  was  any  substantial  evi- 
dence to  support  it,  and  the  case  was  tried  as  the  law  requires. 
But  of  course  if  there  is  no  such  evidence,  or  if  the  case  was 
not  tried  according  to  law,  the  trial  judge  or  the  appellate 
court  will  not  permit  their  verdict  to  stand,  for  that  would  be 
unjust — and  this  is  what  is  meant  by  the  words  "according 
to  the  rules  of  the  common  law"  used  in  this  Seventh  Amend- 
ment. They  mean  that  juries  were  to  have  the  same  powers 
after  that  amendment  was  adopted  that  they  had  long  had 
in  the  courts  of  the  colonies  and  in  England,  and  that  the 
judge  must  still  have  the  right  to  say  what  was  the  law  by 
which  they  were  to  be  governed.  Those  rules  are  in  force 
now,  and  will  be  so  long  as  that  amendment  remains  un- 
changed. They  have  become  a  part  of  the  constitution  or 
statutes  of  almost  every  State  in  the  Union,  and  hence  the 
proceedings  and  practice  of  all  courts  throughout  the  land 
are  very  much  the  same.  We  can  then  see  how  much  they 
have  done  to  systematize  and  harmonize  proceedings  in  all 
American  courts. 

170.  Indictment  by  Grand  Jury. — It  is  provided  by 
the  Fifth  Amendment  that  "no  person  shall  be  held  to  answer 
for  a  capital,  or  otherwise  infamous  crime,  unless  on  a  pre- 
sentment or  indictment  of  a  grand  jury,  except  in  cases  aris- 
ing in  the  land  or  naval  forces,  or  in  the  militia,  when  in 
actual  service  in  time  of  war  or  public  danger."  A  grand 
jury  in  most  State  courts  is  composed  of  twelve  citizens,  but 
in  a  Federal  court  it  consists  of  "not  less  than  sixteen  nor 
more  than  twenty-three  persons." 

1.  They  meet  in  secret  session,  under  oath,  and  inquire 
of  witnesses  summoned  before  them  whether  a  crime  has  been 
committed,  and  if  so  they  draw  up  and  present  to  the  court  a 
formal  written  charge  called  an  indictment,  which  authorizes 


218        CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

the  court  to  put  the  person  named  therein  on  his  trial.  It 
specifically  informs  him  of  the  crime  he  is  charged  with 
having  committed.  The  Sixth  Amendment  says  that  "the 
accused  shall  enjoy  the  right  to  be  previously  informed  of 
the  nature  and  cause  of  the  accusation,"  and  this  indictment 
is  for  that  specific  purpose.  It  is  placed  in  his  hands  before 
the  day  of  the  trial,  and  he  cannot  be  tried  for  any  other 
crime  than  the  one  therein  charged  against  him.  In  this 
way  the  accused  person  is  given  a  chance  to  meet  and  over- 
throw the  charge,  if  false. 

A  capital  crime  is  one  punishable  with  death,  and  the 
words  "infamous  crime,"  as  here  used,  mean  any  kind  of 
felony,  which  includes  all  crimes  punishable  by  death  or 
imprisonment  in  the  penitentiary.  Before  one  can  be  con- 
victed of  such  a  crime  in  a  Federal  court,  he  must  be  in- 
dicted by  a  grand  jury,  and  so  long  as  the  grand  jury  refuses 
to  indict  him  he  can  never  be  placed  upon  trial. 

2.  Of  course,  these  words  from  the  Fifth  Amendment 
do  not  mean  that  one  arrested  for  crime  cannot  be  "held" 
until  he  is  first  indicted.  If  that  were  the  case  many  a  crim- 
inal would  escape  punishment  by  leaving  the  country  before 
the  grand  jury  could  meet  to  consider  his  case.  The  court 
meets  at  stated  times,  fixed  by  law,  and  the  grand  jury 
meets  with  the  court,  and  always  adjourns  when  or  before 
the  court  adjourns.  If  a  crime  is  committed  before  the 
next  grand  jury  meets  the  person  accused  of  that  crime,  by 
a  complaint  sworn  to  by  some  private  citizen  or  some  Govern- 
ment official,  may  be  arrested  and  held,  either  by  bail  or  in 
jail,  until  it  does  meet.  If  he  can  give  a  good  bond  in  a  suffi- 
cient amount  to  satisfy  the  court  officer  that  it  will  cause 
him  to  appear  at  the  next  term  of  court  and  answer  to  any 
indictment  that  may  be  returned  against  him,  he  can,  in  most 
cases,  by  giving  such  a  bond,  have  his  liberty  until  the  grand 
jury  meets.  If  he  cannot  give  such  bond,  or  if  he  is  accused 
of  treason  or  atrocious  murder,   he  is  confined  in  jail.     If 


THE  JUDICIAL  DEPARTMENT.  219 

no  indictment  is  returned  against  him  by  the  grand  jury  when 
it  meets,  he  can  no  longer  be  "held,"  but  is  given  his  liberty. 
If  he  is  indicted  he  can  again  be  admitted  to  bail  until  the 
day  of  his  trial,  at  that  term  or  a  subsequent  term,  by  giving 
a^new  bond,  unless  he  is  charged  with  some  "capital"  offense. 
And  he  may  be  indicted  by  the  grand  jury  although  not  pre- 
viously arrested  or  formally  accused  of  a  crime.  The  pur- 
pose of  requiring  him  to  give  bond  or  of  confining  him  in 
jail  is  to  insure  his  presence  at  his  trial  if  indicted,  for  he 
cannot  be  tried  in  his  absence.  His  presence  can  be  secured 
in  most  cases  by  the  giving  of  a  bond,  whose  makers  obligate 
themselves  to  pay  a  certain  sum  of  money  if  he  does  not 
appear;  but  it  is  supposed  that  one  accused  of  treason  or 
atrocious  murder,  for  which  he  may  if  found  guilty  be  put  to 
death,  will  not  appear  for  trial  however  large  the  bond  he 
may  give,  and  for  that  reason  he  is  confined  in  jail  until 
the  time  of  his  trial,  or  until  the  grand  jury  has  refused  to 
return  an  indictment  against  him.  It  is  not  denying  him  a 
"speedy  trial"  to  hold  him  in  that  way  for  that  length  of  time. 
The  words  of  this  amendment  saying  that  "no  person  shall 
be  held  to  answer"  for  a  crime  "unless  on  a  presentation  or 
indictment  of  a  grand  jury"  simply  mean  that  no  person  can 
be  put  upon  trial  in  a  Federal  court  until  after  an  indictment 
has  been  returned  against  him  by  a  grand  jury. 

3.  It  will  be  observ^ed  that  according  to  the  Fifth  Amend- 
ment persons  "in  the  land  or  naval  forces,  or  in  the  militia, 
when  in  actual  service  in  time  of  war  or  public  danger,"  may 
be  "held  to  answer"  for  an  infamous  crime  without  being 
previously  indicted  by  a  grand  jury.  This  is  necessary  for 
the  preser\^ation  of  order  in  an  army.  "In  times  of  war" 
men's  passions  break-loose,  and  if  order  is  to  be  preserved  in 
the  army,  the  army  must  have  the  right  to  punish  those  sol- 
diers who  break  its  regulations  and  commit  crimes.  The 
Army  and  Na\'y  have  their  own  system  of  trials,  called  a 
court-martial,  which  affords  a  summary  and  speedy  way  of 


220       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

holding   in   check  or   punishing   their   members   who   offend 
against  their  rules  and  regulations. 

171.  Twice  in  Jeopardy. — It  is  further  said  in  the 
Fifth  Amendment:  "Nor  shall  any  person  be  subject  for  the 
same  offense  to  be  twice  put  in  jeopardy  of  life  or  limb." 
This  means  that  when  the  accused  has  once  been  acquitted 
by  a  trial  jury  he  can  never  be  tried  again  for  the  same  of- 
fense, however  much  testimony  may  be  found  against  him. 
He  may  be  tried  again  and  again  until  the  jury  finally  agrees 
upon  a  verdict,  but  when  that  has  been  done  he  can  not  be 
tried  again  except  on  his  own  motion  for  a  new  trial;  if  ac- 
quitted, of  course  he  will  not  ask  for  a  new  trial.  And  if  once 
convicted  and  punished  for  a  crime  he  can  never  be  tried  or 
punished  again  for  that  crime. 

172.  Self-Conviction. — ^Another  part  of  the  Fifth  Amend- 
ment is:  "No  person  shall  be  compelled  in  any  criminal 
case  to  be  a  witness  against  himself."  The  accused  per- 
son may,  if  he  choose,  testify  in  his  own  behalf,  and  if  he  does 
that,  the  Government  has  the  right  to  cross-examine  him, 
so  as  to  test  the  truthfulness  of  his  testimony;  but  he  cannot 
be  produced  by  the  prosecution  as  a  witness  and  tortured  into 
testifying  against  himself.  He  must  voluntarily  do  so,  or 
not  at  all.  Any  person  subpoenaed  before  a  grand  jury  and 
asked  to  inform  them  concerning  a  crime  in  which  he  had  a 
part,  need  do  nothing  more  to  shield  himself  than  to  say  to 
them  that  his  testimony  might  tend  to  incriminate  him,  and 
if  he  has  a  reasonable  basis  for  his  statement  they  cannot 

►compel  him. to  testify  further. 

173.  Due  Process  of  Law. — ^The  Fifth  Amendment 
continues:  "No  person  shall  be  deprived  of  life,  liberty  or 
property  without  due  process  of  law." 

Due  process  of  law  means  a  hearing  and  a  proceeding 
according  to  the  law  of  the  land..  It  usually  means  trial  by 
jury  before  a  regularly  elected  or  appointed  judge;  it  means  the 


THE  JUDICIAL  DEPARTMENT.    ^  221 

observance  of  all  those  rights  which  have  been  discussed  in  this 
chapter,  beginning  with  section  167.  The  provision  that  "no 
person  shall  be  deprived  of  life,  liberty  or  property  without  due 
process  of  law,"  therefore,  means  that  no  person  can  be  de- 
prived of  those  things  by  any  tribunal  except  a  court,  and  then 
only  when  all  his  legal  rights  are  observed  at  the  trial.  There 
is  a  similar  provision  in  the  Constitution  of  every  State.  Such 
provisions  mean  that  the  President,  the  Congress,  the  Gov- 
ernor, the  General  Assembly,  and  all  private  citizens  and  all 
public  officials  must  yield  obedience  to  the  authority  of  the 
courts.  They  are  meant  to  prohibit  lynchings  and  mob  vio- 
lence. The  people  have  no  right  to  inflict  punishments 
according  to  their  own  will.  Every  person  in  a  township  or 
a  county  might  gather  in  a  crowd  or  mass-meeting  and  agree 
that  an  accused  person  should  be  punished  in  a  certain  way, 
and  might  proceed  to  inflict  that  punishment,  but  all  of  them 
would  be  law-breakers  and  every  one  of  them  a  criminal. 
The  courts  have  been  established  for  the  administration  of 
justice,  and  in  no  other  way  and  by  no  other  body  can  it  be 
legally  administered. 

Questions  on  Chapter  XVII. 

1.  Of  what  does  the  judicial  department  consist?     (161) 

2.  Were  there  any  courts  before  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution? 

(161) 

3.  How  were  laws  of  Congress  enforced?     (161) 

4.  What  was  the  resuh?     (161) 

5.  What  was  the  result  of  creating  United  States  courts?     (161) 

6.  Why  should  there  be  United  States  courts?     (161) 

7.  Why  are  courts  necessary  in  a  republic?     (161) 

8.  What  duty  devolves  on  United  States  courts?     (161) 

9.  Discuss  the  Supreme  Court.     (162) 

10.  What  are  the  inferior  courts?     (162) 

11.  Discuss  district  courts.     (162) 

12.  Circuit  courts  of  appeals.     (162) 

13.  Read  what  is  said  of  the  Court  of  Customs  Appeals.     (162) 

14.  What  is  said  of  the  Court  of  Claims?     (162) 

15.  How  may  the  Supreme  Court  be  a  check  on  Congress?     (163) 


222       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

16.  Where  does  it  get  that  authority?     (163) 

17.  What  is  the  especial  duty  of  that  court?     (163) 

18.  How  and  for  how  long  are  judges  chosen?     (164) 

19.  What  are  their  salaries?     (165) 

20.  With  what  disputes  do  not  Federal  courts  deal?     (166) 

21.  With  what  disputes  do  they  deal?     (166) 

22.  What  does  the  Constitution  say  of  trial  by  jury?     (167) 

23.  Had  there  been  jury  trials  before  the  Constitution  was  adopted? 

(167) 

24.  Where  must  jury  trials  occur?     (168) 

25.  What  rights  shall  the  accused  enjoy?     (168) 

26.  What  two  reasons  why  the  trial  should  be  by  jury  of  the  dis- 

trict?    (168) 

27.  What  is  said  of  speedy  trials?     (168) 

28.  Why  should  trials  be  public?     (168) 

29.  Must  all  witnesses  against  the  accused  be  present  at  the  trial? 

(168) 

30.  Can  he  be  tried  in  his  absence?     (169) 

31.  Suppose  witnesses  will  not  appear?     (169) 

32.  Suppose  he  is  too  poor  to  employ  counsel?     (169) 

33.  Was  jury  trial  in  civil  cases  at  first  guaranteed  by  the  Consti- 

tution?    (169) 

34.  What  did  Amendment  Seven  declare?     (169) 

35.  Did  it  create  a  jury  trial  in  civil  cases?     (169) 

36.  What  is  the  province  of  the  jury?     (169) 

37.  When  will  the  judge  interfere  with  their  verdict?     (169) 

38.  How  is  a  grand  jury  composed?     (170) 

39.  How  is  an  indictment  found?     (170) 

40.  What  is  an  indictment?     (170) 

41.  What  are  its  specific  purposes?     (170) 

42.  Can  an  unindicted  person  be  convicted  of  a  felony  in  a  Federal 

court?     (170) 

43.  If  the  accused  is  once  acquitted  can  he  be  again  tried  for  the 

same  crime?     (171) 

44.  Can'any  person  be  forced  to  testify  against  himself?     (172) 

45.  What  is  due  process  of  law?     (173) 

46.  What  is  said  of  lynchings?     (173) 


MISCELLANEOUS  PROVISIONS.  223 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

MISCELLANEOUS  PROVISIONS. 

174.  New  States. — A  part  of  section  3  of  article  4  of 
the  Constitution  is:  "New  States  may  be  admitted  by  the 
Congress  into  this  Union;  but  no  new  State  shall  be  formed 
or  erected  within  the  jurisdiction  of  any  other  State,  nor  any 
State  be  formed  by  the  junction  of  two  or  more  States,  or 
parts  of  States,  without  the  consent  of  the  legislatures  of  the 
States  concerned,  as  w^ell  as  of  the  Congress." 

Twelve  States  took  part  in  framing  the  Constitution, 
and  ten  of  these  had  adopted  it  at  the  time  George  Washing- 
ton was  elected  President.  Rhode  Island  declined  to  send 
delegates  to  the  Constitutional  Convention,  and  did  not 
adopt  the  Constitution  for  thirteen  moaths  after  the  first 
President  was  inaugurated  in  1789.  North  Carolina  had  not 
adopted  it  at  the  time  of  his  inauguration,  and  New  York  took 
no  part  in  his  election.  But  by  May  29,  1790,  all  the  thirteen 
original  colonies  had  adopted  the  Constitution,  and  thereby 
they  became  subject  to  its  authority.  They  had  already 
been  a  part  of  the  Union  formed  under  the  Articles  of  Con- 
federation, and  all  they  had  to  do,  therefore,  to  become  a 
part  of  the  Government  created  by  the  new  Constitution, 
was  to  ratify  it. 

But  the  words  "admitted  to  the  Union"  have  more  than 
once  been  held  to  mean  that  Congress  can  prescribe  the 
terms  upon  which  "new  States  may  be  added  to  this  Union.^' 
On  January  19,  1791,  Vermont  was  admitted  to  the  Union 
as  the  first  "new  State."  Since  then  thirty- four  others  have 
been  admitted,  and  now  the  whole  number  is  forty-eight,  the 
last  admitted  being  Arizona  in  1912. 

Both  Kentucky  and  West  Virginia  were  formed  into 
new   States   from   territory   formerly   embraced   within   Vir- 


224       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

ginia;  Kentucky,  by  the  consent  of  the  Virginia  legislature; 
West  Virginia,  on  the  consent  of  its  inhabitants.  The  ad- 
mission of  West  Virginia  was  not  strictly  in  keeping  with  the 
Constitution,  for  it  was  not  admitted  with  "the  consent  of 
the  legislature"  of  Virginia.  But  Virginia  had  seceded  from 
the  Union  at  that  time,  and  the  counties  now  constituting 
West  Virginia  did  not  wish  to  secede,  and  petitioned  Congress 
to  be  organized  into  a  separate  State  and  be  admitted  to  the 
Union,  and  that  w^as  done. 

175.  Public  Lands. — ^The  Constitution  says  that  "the 
Congress  shall  have  power  to  dispose  of  and  make  all  needful 
.rules  and  regulations  respecting  the  territory  or  other  prop- 
erty belonging  to  the  United  States." 

The  Government  from  the  beginning  has  encouraged  its 
citizens  to  buy  its  lands  and  make  for  themselves  homes. 
The  usual  price  for  the  best  lands  in  a  State  like  Missouri 
was  $1.25  per  acre,  but  swamp  and  saline  lands  were  sold  for 
much  less.  The  sale  of  these  lands  was  made  through  the 
General  Land  Office  at  Washington,  which  issued  to  each 
purchaser  a  patent,  or  a  written  deed  signed  J3y  the  Presi- 
dent guaranteeing  that  the  Government  would  protect  the 
purchaser  against  the  claims  of  all  other  persons.  A  United 
States  patent,  therefore,  is  the  best  basis  one  can  have  for  a 
title  to  his  land.  In  addition  to  the  General  Land  Office,  there 
are  local  land  offices  for  the  various  districts  in  which  the 
Government  has  land  for  sale. 

The  unpatented  lands  within  a  State  when  "admitted" 
to  the  Union  are  retained  by  the  United  States  until  sold, 
then  they  become  subject  to  the  authority  of  the  State,  which 
prescribes  rules  by  which  they  may  be  taxed  and  be  sold  by 
their  owners  to  other  persons.  In  several  States,  however, 
the  Congress  has  turned  over  to  them  certain  swamp  lands, 
to  be  sold,  and  the  proceeds  applied  to  draining  them;  and 
again  it  has  given  other  lands  to  a  State  in  aid  of  a  university 
or  other  schools. 


MISCELLANEOUS  PROVISIONS.  225 

The  lands  of  the  Louisiana  Purchase  have  been  disposed 
of  by  the  Union  as  above  set  out,  but  Texas  was  not  created 
out  of  territory  belonging  to  the  United  States,  but  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  Union  as  an  "independent  republic,"  and  there- 
fore Texas  has  been  permitted  to  dispose  of  her  own  public 
lands,  and  retain  the  money  received  therefor. 

In  States  west  of  the  Mississippi  River  some  of  the  lands, 
instead  of  being  sold  for  so  much  an  acre,  were  granted  to 
actual  settlers  in  quantities  of  160  acres  at  the  small  fee  of 
fifteen  dollars,  the  settler  having  proved  an  actual  residence 
thereon  of  five  years.  These  were  called  homesteads.  And 
from  the  earliest  times  lands  have  been  given  to  soldiers  in 
payment  of  services  performed  by  them  in  war.  These  were 
called  military  bounty  lands. 

176.  Regulation  of  Territories. — The  population  of 
America  has  constantly  moved  west.  All  the  territory  set- 
tled by  English-speaking  people  west  of  the  Mississippi  River 
has  been  settled  since  the  Constitution  w^as  adopted.  As  these 
settlers  gathered  in  a  certain  region  in  such  numbers  as  to 
indicate  that  they  were  there  to  stay  and  that  others  would 
rapidly  join  them,  Congress  would  provide  a  government  for 
them,  under  the  clause  of  the  Constitution  which  says  that 
Congress  shall  "make  all  needful  rules  and  regulations  for 
the  territory  of  the  United  States."  It  began  by  declaring 
that  a  certain  tract  of  the  country  should  be  organized  into 
a  Territory  to  be  known  by  a  certain  name,  and  be  governed 
by  a  code  of  laws  framed  by  a  commission  of  three  or  four 
men,  one  of  whom  was  usually  the  governor  appointed  by 
the  President,  another  a  judge,  also  appointed  by  him.  These 
laws  were  reported  to  Congress,  and  if  acceptable  to  it,  were 
made  binding  by  it  upon  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  Territory. 
This  simple  government  sufficed  for  a  time,  but  as  the  set- 
tlers continued  to  grow  more  numerous,  the  Congress  would 
authorize  them  to  elect  delegates  to  a  territorial  legislature, 
to  frame  laws  for  themselves,  the  Congress  still  retaining  the " 

15 


226       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

right  to  annul  any  law  made  by  this  legislature.  Later  on  it 
authorized  the  people  to  elect  delegates  to  a  convention  to 
frame  a  constitution  as  a  basis  for  the  admission  of  the  Ter- 
ritory into  the  Union.  If  this  constitution  was  acceptable 
to  Congress  and  provided  a  republican  form  of  government, 
the  Territory  was  admitted  to  the  Union  as  a  State.  But 
until  admitted,  its  governors  and  principal  officers  were 
appointed  by  the  President. 

177.  Oath  of  Office.— "The  Senators  and  Represent- 
atives before  mentioned,  and  the  members  of  the  several 
State  legislatures,  and  all  executive  and  judicial  officers,  both 
of  the  United  States  and  of  the  several  States,  shall  be  bound, 
by  oath  or  affirmation,  to  support  this  Constitution;  but  no 
religious  test  shall  ever  be  required  as  a  qualification  to  any 
office  or  public  trust  under  the  United  States." 

1.  The  oath  prescribed  by  the  Constitution  for  the 
President  is  in  these  words:  "I  do  solemnly  swear  (or  affirm) 
that  I  will  faithfully  execute  the  office  of  President  of  the 
United  States,  and  will,  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  preser\je, 
protect  and  defend  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States." 
The  oath  that  the  Chief  Justice  must  take  is  this:  "I  do 
solemnly  swear  (or  affirm)  that  I  will  administer  justice 
without  respect  to  persons,  and  do  equal  justice  to  the  poor 
^nd  to  the  rich,  and  that  I  will  faithfully  and  impartially 
discharge  all  the  duties  incumbent  upon  me  as  Chief  Justice, 
according  to  the  best  of  my  abilities  and  understanding, 
agreeably  to  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States; 
So  help  rne  God."  And  the  oath  of  every  justice  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  and  of  every  circuit  and  every  district  judge 
is  the  same,  with  such  variations  only  as  must  necessarily  be 
made  for  a  difference  in  the  name  of  the  judge  and  in  the 
name  of  the  court.  The  wording  of  the  oath  for  other  of- 
ficers varies  according  to  their  duties,  but  such  oath  always 
includes  a  pledge  to  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States. 


MISCELLANEOUS  PROVISIONS.  227 

Some  persons,  as  for  instance  the  Friends  or  Quakers,  on 
account  of  their  religious  beHefs,  will  not  take  oaths,  and  hence 
they  are  required  to  "solemnly  affirm." 

2.  The  Constitution  does  not  permit  Congress  to  pre- 
scribe a  religious  test  for  office.  The  Government  can  not 
interfere  with  any  man's  religion.  He  can  not  be  denied 
office  simply  because  he  adheres  to  certain  religious  teach- 
ings, nor  because  he  is  not  a  member  of  some  religious  denom- 
ination. Yet,  nevertheless,  in  almost  every  oath  the  words, 
"So  help  me  God,"  appear.  But  they  are  not  regarded  as 
a  "religious  test,"  but  simply  a  solemn  call  on  God  to  witness 
the  promise  that  the  man  makes. 

178.  Private  Property  for  Public  Use. — ^The  last  clause 
of  the  Fifth  Amendment  is:  "Nor  shall  private  property 
be  taken  for  public  use  without  just  compensation."  One 
of  the  purposes  of  the  Government  is  to  compel  men  to 
respect  the  rights  of  others  to  enjoy  their  property;  but  to  do 
this  it  must  itself  show  that  it  respects  the  rights  of  its  citi- 
zens to  their  own.  Hence,  it  cannot  take  the  property  of 
any  citizen  w^ithout  paying  him  what  it  is  worth.  If  it  needs 
it  for  a  public  use  and  cannot  agree  with  the  owner  upon  its 
value,  it  can  have  disinterested  competent  men  to  appraise 
it,  and  then  having  paid  to  the  owner  the  amount  of  that 
appraisement,  it  can  take  it,  without  his  consent.  All  per- 
sons hold  their  property  subject  to  the  right  of  the  Govern- 
ment to  take  it  for  a  public  use. 

179.  Treason. — Every  government  must  have  power 
to  punish  those  who  rebel  against  its  lawful  authority.  "Trea- 
son against  the  United  States  shall  consist  only  in  levying 
war  against  them,  or  in  adhering  to  their  enemies,  giving 
them  aid  and  comfort."  It  is  the  highest  crime  with  which 
a  person  may  be  charged,  and  may  be  punished  by  the  most 
severe  penalties;  but  that  punishment  cannot  work  "corrup- 
tion of  blood,"  which  means  that  the  crime  cannot  be  visited 
upon  the  children  of  the  traitor.     On  the  contrary,  the  Con- 


228       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

stitution  says  that  "all  persons  born  in  the  United  States" 
are  citizens,  and  this  means  that  the  children  of  a  person  who 
has  been  convicted  of  treason  are  as  much  citizens  as  those 
of  the  most  law-abiding  patriot.  "No  person  can  be  con- 
victed of  treason  except  on  the  testimony  of  at  least  two 
witnesses  to  the  same  overt  act,  or  on  confession  in  open 
court."  The  Constitution  nowhere  says  that  where  a  per- 
son is  charged  with  some  other  crime,  there  must  be  at  least 
two  witnesses  to  "the  overt  act"  or  he  cannot  be  convicted, 
but  in  some  States  that  is  the  rule.  In  most  of  them,  how- 
ever, any  kind  of  proof  which  "satisfies  the  mind  of  the  jury 
beyond  a  reasonable  doubt  of  the  guilt  of  the  accused"  is 
sufficient  to  convict  him.  Fortunately,  there  have  been  few 
trials  for  treason  in  America.  The  most  noted  was  that  of 
Aaron  Burr,  charged  with  trying  to  organize  the  people  of 
the  Mississippi  Valley  into  a  separate  government,  and  in 
that  it  was  held  (by  Chief  Justice  Marshall)  that  treason 
must' be  shown  by  some  overt  (that  is,  an  open,  public, 
manifest)  act,  and  did  not  consist  merely  of  treasonable 
intention  and  words. 

180.  Power  to  Enforce  Its  Authority. — After  recit- 
ing in  detail  the  powers  given  to  Congress  (which  have  been 
already  discussed  under  proper  heads)  the  Constitution  says: 
"The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  make  all  laws  which  shall 
be  necessary  and  proper  for  carrying  into  execution  the  fore- 
going powers,  and  all  other  powers  vested  by  this  Constitu- 
tion in  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  or  in  any  de- 
partment or  officer  thereof." 

This  is  a  needed  provision.  A  government  must  have 
authority  to  enforce  the  laws  which  the  Constitution  gives 
its  legislative  body  power  to  enact.  Those  laws  do  not  en- 
force themselves.  The  Government  cannot  depend  on  the 
whims  or  good  will  of  the  citizens  to  enforce  them.  It  must 
invest  certain  officers  with  power  to  execute  its  will,  and 
those  officers  are  the  courts  and  the  various  executive  officers. 


MISCELLANEOUS  PROVISIONS.  229 

But  this  clause  does  not  give  Congress  unlimited  powers. 
It  does  not  give  it  power  to  pass  any  law  it  may  deem  "neces- 
sary and  proper."  It  has  power  to  pass  any  law  it  may 
deem  "necessary  and  proper"  for  enforcing  the  powers  which 
the  Constitution  has  vested  in  it  and  in  other  departments 
of  the  Government. 

But  it  cannot  pass  a  law  to  enforce  a  power  which  has 
not  somewhere  in  the  Constitution  been  vested  in  the  Union, 
and  it  was  because  it  was  feared  that  it  might  sometime  un- 
dertake to  do  that  that  the  Tenth  Amendment  was  adopted, 
which  says  that  all  "powers  not  delegated  to  the  United 
States  by  the  Constitution,  nor  prohibited  by  it  to  the  States, 
are  reserved  to  the  States  respectively,  or  to  the  people." 
So  that  when  Congress  desires  to  pass  a  law  it  deems  "neces- 
sary and  proper,"  the  first  inquiry  is,  has  Congress  been  given 
by  the  Constitution  power  to  pass  such  a  law?  If  not,  it 
should  not  be  passed.  But  Congress  itself  may  think  it  has 
power  to  pass  it,  and  do  so;  then  it  will  be  for  the  Presdent 
to  decide  whether  or  not  it  has  such  power,  and  if  he  tihinks 
it  does  not,  he  vetoes  the  bill.  If  he  signs  it,  it  then  becomes 
the  duty  of  the  Supreme  Court,  the  first  time  it  is  asked  to 
enforce  it,  to  decide  whether  or  not  Congress  was  vested  with 
power  to  enact  it,  and  if  it  thinks  not,  the  law  becomes  at 
once  void  and  of  no  effect. 

But  unless  a  law  is  in  conflict  with  the  Constitution  the 
Supreme  Court  will  not  declare  it  void,  however  improper 
and  unnecessary  the  judges  may  consider  it.  The  remedy 
then  is  with  the  people,  who  at  the  next  elections  may  elect 
other  Congressmen  who  will  repeal  it;  but  if  they  cannot 
elect  a  Congress  that  will  do  that,  it  is  their  duty  to  submit 
to  it. 

181.  Republican  Form  of  Government. — The  Constitu- 
tion says  that  "the  United  States  shall  guarantee  to  every 
State  in  this  Union  a  republican  form  of  government."  Ours 
is  a  republic.     Not  only  is  the  Union  a  republic,  but  each 


230       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

State  is  a  republic,  and  the  Constitution  guarantees  that 
each  State  shall  remain  a  republic.  And  Congress  usually 
does  this  when  a  State  is  admitted  to  the  Union.  Unless  the 
constitution  which  the  State  has  framed  for  itself  provides 
for  a  ''republican  form  of  government"  the  State  will  not  be 
admitted,  but  will  be  continued  as  a  Territory,  and  governed 
by  such  "rules  and  regulations"  as  Congress  may  deem 
"needful."  For  instance,  suppose  the  State  when  it  applies 
for  admission  has  in  the  constitution  it  has  made  for  itself 
declared  that  its  chief  officer  shall  be  a  king  who  shall  have 
absolute  power  to  nullify  all  State  laws  which  do  not  please 
him;  then  Congress  would  deny  admission  to  the  State, 
and  continue  its  territorial  government,  until  a  constitution 
was  framed  by  the  people  of  the  Territory  which  provides 
for  them  a  republican  form  of  government. 

This  clause  does  not  guarantee  a  republican  form  of 
government  for  the  Territories.  In  fact,  we  have  already 
seen  that  "the  Congress  shall  have  power  to  make  all  need- 
ful rules  and  regulations  respecting  the  territory  of  the  United 
States."  The  Constitution  nowhere  says  that  Congress  shall 
guarantee  a  republican  form  of  government  for  the  Terri- 
tories. On  the  other  hand,  the  President  has  always  ap- 
pointed their  governors,  and  when  those  territories  were  first 
created  the  laws  provided  for  them  were  made,  not  by  the 
representatives  chosen  by  the  people,  but  by  a  few  commis- 
sioners appointed  by  the  President,  and  the  laws  drafted  by 
them  were  appfoved  or  revised  by  Congress.  But  it  has 
always  been  the  policy  of  the  Government  to  make  the 
government  of  a  Territory  as  nearly  republican  in  form  as 
possible  and  to  turn  over  to  the  people  therein  the  making 
of  their  own  laws  as  soon  as  society  therein  became  orderly 
and  American. 

182.  Invasion. — "The  United  States  shall  protect" 
each  State  "against  invasion."  If  Mexico  were  to  send  an 
armed  force  into  Texas,  it  would  be  the  duty  of  the  President, 


MISCELLANEOUS  PROVISIONS.  231 

without  waiting  for  a  request  from  the  Governor  of  that  State 
or  from  her  Legislature,  to  send  a  part  of  the  standing  army 
there  to  drive  out  the  invaders.  If  the  army  were  not  suffi- 
cient, his  duty  would  be  first  to  call  upon  the  militia  of  the 
various  States  to  aid  the  army,  and  next  on  Congress  to 
supply  him  with  an  army  of  volunteers.  And  if  one  State 
were  invaded  by  another  the  President's  duty  would  be  the 
same.  In  all  cases  of  "invasion"  of  a  State  by  an  outside 
force,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  President  to  take  the  first  step  in 
protecting  the  State  against  it. 

183.  Domestic  Violence. — But  that  is  not  true  in  case 
of  violence  or  disorders  among  the  people  within  a  State. 
The  Constitution  says  that  ''the  United  States  shall,  on  ap- 
plication of  the  legislature,  or  of  the  executive  (when  the 
legislature  cannot  be  convened),  protect  each  State  against 
domestic  violence."  The  duty  is  imposed  on  each  State  to 
maintain  order  among  its  own  people.  The  President  can- 
not interfere  to  put  down  an  uprising  among  the  people  of  a 
State  against  the  State's  authority,  until  the  Legislature  of 
the  State  or  its  Governor  requests  his  aid,  and  that  aid  should 
not  be  requested  until  it  is  apparent  that  the  State  is  not 
alone  able  to  restore  order.  If  the  uprising  is  against  the 
authority  of  the  L^nited  States  government  or  some  of  its 
officers,  the  President  may  interfere,  although  the  violence  is 
entirely  within  a  State;  but  in  that  case,  the  violence  is  not 
"domestic;"  that  is,  it  is  not  against  State  authority,  but 
against  National  authority.  The  Constitution  means  that 
the  United  States  government  and  the  State  government  are 
both  required  primarily  to  maintain  its  own  authority — with 
the  right  in  each  to  call  on  the  other  for  aid  whenever  aid  is 
needed. 

184.  The  Supreme  Law. — As  a  final  section  on  the 
Civil  Government  of  the  United  States,  this  clause  from  the 
Constitution  is  appropriate:  "This  Constitution,  and  the 
laws  of  the  United  States  which  shall  be  made  in  pursuance 


232       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

thereof,  and  all  treaties  made,  or  which  shall  be  made,  under 
the  authority  of  the  United  States,  shall  be  the  supreme  law 
of  the  land;  and  the  judges  of  every  State  shall  be  bound 
thereby,  anything  in  the  constitution  or  laws  of  any  State 
to  the  contrary  notwithstanding." 

The  State  is  bound  to  yield  to  the  paramount  authority 
of  the  Union.  It  must  not  only  yield  to  the  superior  au- 
thority of  the  Constitution,  but  it  must  yield  to  all  constitu- 
tional laws  passed  by  Congress.  It  must  also  yield  to  all 
constitutional  treaties  made  by  the  President  and  ratified  by 
the  Senate.  The  State  has  no  choice  in  the  matter;  it  must 
yield  obedience  to  that  superior  authority  whether^  it  wants 
to  or  not.  There  is  nothing  humiliating  to  the  States  in  that; 
they  agreed  to  do  that  when  they  ratified  the  Constitution; 
and  by  keeping  tliat  agreement,  each  State  is  a  joint  partner 
in  the  best  government  in  the  world. 

Questions  on  Chapter  XVIII. 

1.     Howrnay  a  new  State  be  formed?     (174) 

2.  How  did  the  original  thirteen  States  become  a  part  of  the  Union? 

(174) 

3.  What  was  the  first  State  admitted?     (174) 

4.  How  many  have  since  been  admitted?     (174) 

5.  How  was  Kentucky  admitted?     (174) 

6.  How  was  West  Virginia  admitted?     (174) 

7.  What  does  the  Constitution  say  respecting  territory?     (175) 

8.  How  has  the  Government  disposed  of  the  public  lands?     (175) 

9.  ^  What  does  the  Government  issue  to  each  purchaser?     (175) 

10.  What  is  a  patent?     (175) 

11.  When  a  State  is  admitted  to  the  Union  what  is  done  with  its 

unpatented  lands?     (175) 

12.  Why  were  the  lands  in  Texas  not  claimed  by  the  United  States? 

(175) 

13.  How  were  homestead  lands  disposed  of?     (175)  ^ 

14.  What  are  military  bounty  lands?     (175) 

15.  Who  provided  the  first  government  of  a  Territory?     (176) 

16.  Under  what  authority?     (176) 

17.  Describe  the  steps  in  Territorial  government.     (176) 


MISCELLANEOUS  PROVISIONS  233 

18.  How  did  it  provide  for  admitting  a  Territory  into  the  Union  as 

a  State?     (176) 

19.  What  officers  must  take  an  oath?     (177) 

20.  What  is  the  President's  oath?     (177) 

21.  What  pledge  must  the  oath  of  every  officer  contain?     (177) 

22.  Who  may  affirm  instead  of  swear?     (177) 

23.  What  is  said  about  a  religious  test  for  office?     (177) 

24.  What  about  taking  private  property  for  public  use?     (178) 

25.  What  is  said  about  treason?     (179) 

26.  What  other  laws  may  Congress  make?      (180) 

27.  Can  it  pass  a  law  to  enforce  a  power  not  given  to  the  Union? 

(180) 

28.  What  clause  of  the  Cons  titution  prohibits  it  from  doing  that? 

(180) 

29.  When  will  the  Supreme  Court  declare  a  law  void?     (180) 

30.  What  remedy  have  the  people  then?     (180) 

31.  What  must  the  Union  guarantee  each  State?     (181) 

32.  How  does  Congress  usually  do  that?     (181) 

33.  Does  this  clause  guarantee  republican  government  for  the  Ter- 

ritories?    (181) 

34.  How  is  each  State  protected  against  invasion?     (182) 

35.  Who  takes  the  initiative  in  case  of  domestic  violence?     (183) 

36.  When  may  the  President  aid  in  putting  down  an  uprising  against 

State  authority?     (183) 

37.  Suppose  the  uprising  were  against  National  authority?      (183) 

38.  What  is  the  supreme  law  of  the  land?     (184) 

39.  Must  a  State  yield  to  the  authority  of  the  Union?     (184) 

40.  Is  there  anything  humiliating  in  that?     (184) 


CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI 


CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE 
STATE  OF  MISSOURI 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  RISE  OF  THE  STATE  GOVERNMENT. 

185.  Origin. — The  government  of  Missouri  did  not 
originate  in  charters  from  the  king  of  England,  as  did  those 
of  the  Colonies.  Nor  did  it  begin  with  small  counties,  which 
were  afterwards  enlarged  and  developed  into  a  great  State. 
On  the  contrary,  it  had  its  beginning  in  laws  of  Congress. 
Congress  at  the  outset  gave  the  people  no  voice  in  the  kind 
of  government  they  should  have,  nor  did  it  permit  them  to 
choose  representatives  to  make  laws  for  them,  or  officers  to 
enforce  those  laws.  But  as  they  became  more  numerous,  and 
better  acquainted  with  the  meaning  of  self-government,  it 
granted  to  them  the  right  to  choose  representatives  to  make 
their  laws,  and  after  a  few  years  it  authorized  them  to  form 
a  State  government  and  admitted  the  State  into  the  Union 
as  a  full  partner  in  the  Republic,  but  it  took  care  from  the 
very  first  to  see  to  it  that  the  government  that  should  finally 
be  adopted  by  the  people  should  be  republican  in  form. 

186.  The  Transfer  to  the  United  States.— By  treaty 
made  in  Paris  on  April  30,  1803,  France  ceded  to  the  United 
States  the  country  then  kpown  as  the  Province  of  Louisiana, 
which  embraced  all  that  part  of  our  country  lying  between 
the  Mississippi  River  and  the  Rocky  Mountains,  except  a 
part  of  Texas.     Of  course,  what  is  now  called  Missouri  was 

(237) 


238  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

included  in  the  cession.  By  the  terms  of  the  treaty  "the 
inhabitants  of  the  ceded  territory"  were  to  be  "incorporated 
in  the  Union  of  the  United  States,  and  admitted  as  soon  as 
possible,  according  to  the  principles  of  the  Federal  Constitu- 
vtion,  to  the  enjoyment  of  all  the  rights,  advantages  and  im- 
munities of  citizens  of  the  United  States;  and  in  the  mean- 
time they"  were  to  be  "maintained  and  protected  in  the  free 
enjoyment  of  their  liberty,  property  and  the  religion  which 
they  profess."  This  was  their  only  charter  of  political  rights. 
But  upon  the  terms  of  this  treaty  they  insisted  during  all  the 
territorial  days,  and  when  the  great  national  struggle  arose 
over  the  Missouri  Compromise,  they  still  insisted  that  what- 
ever privileges  were  enjoyed  by  the  other  States  of  right 
belonged  to  them.  We  shall  see  that  for  the  most  part  Con- 
gress strictly  adhered  to  the  agreements  of  this  treaty,  and 
kept  true  faith  with  the  inhabitants  of  the  Louisiana  terri- 
tory. 

On  October  21,  1803,  President  Jefferson  proclaimed  the 
treaty  ratified,  and  on  October  31st  Congress  authorized  him 
"to  take  possession  of  the  territory  and  maintain  the  author- 
ity of  the  United  States"  therein.  The  existing  government 
at  that  time  was  Spanish,  and  had  been  for  many  years,  but 
the  people  were  nearly  all  French.  They  had  not  been  used 
to  a  republic.  Neither  they  nor  their  ancestors  had  been 
trained  in  the  principles  of  republican  government.  Of 
course,  then,  they  were  not  prepared  to  maintain  republican 
government  in  an  orderly  way.  It  was  necessary  to  give 
them  time  to  study  the  Constitution  and  the  workings  of  the 
State  governments  along  the  Atlantic  coast,  and  to  learn  the 
principles,  the  privileges  and  the  responsibilities  of  self-gov- 
ernment. But  the  Congress  was  careful,  in  providing  a 
government  for  them,  to  see  to  it  that  no  injustice  was  done, 
that  no  cruel  or  tyrannical  hand  was  laid  upon  them.  The 
act  directing  the  President  to  take  possession  of  the  territory 
required  him  to  "maintain  and  protect  the   inhabitants  of 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  STATE  GOVERNMENT.         239 

Louisiana  in  the  free  enjoyment  of  their  liberty,  property  and 
religion." 

187.  The  Successive  Territorial  Steps.— On  March  10, 
1804,  the  President,  through  Captain  Amos  Stoddard,  of  the 
United  States  Army,  took  formal  possession  of  upper  Louis- 
iana, at  St.  Louis,  and  on  March  26th  Congress  divided 
Louisiana  into  two  territories,  and  named  that  part  of  it 
which  lies  north  of  the  33rd  degree  of  latitude  (the  northern 
boundary  of  the  present  State  of  Louisiana)  the  "District  of 
Louisiana,"  and  over  that  district  extended  "the  executive 
power"  then  vested  in  the  Governor  of  the  Territory  of  In- 
diana, and  provided  that  he  and  the  three  United  States 
judges  of  Indiana  should  establish  inferior  courts  in'  that  dis- 
trict and  **make  all  laws  for  the  government  of  the  inhabit- 
ants thereof."  At  that  time  William  Henry  Harrison,  after- 
wards President  of  the  United  States  for  a  short  time,  was 
Governor  of  Indiana,  and  the  few  laws  made  by  him  and 
these  three  judges  went  into  effect  on  October  1,  1804.  They 
were  plain  laws,  easily  understood,  and  provided  for  trial 
by  jury,  and  were  in  other  respects  much  like  the  laws  of  the 
States  along  the  Atlantic  coast. 

But  the  Governor  of  Indiana  did  not  long  exercise  au- 
thority here;  in  fact,  the  arrangement  by  which  the  District 
of  Louisiana  was,  for  governmental  purposes,  attached  to 
Indiana  Territory,  lasted  less  than  a  year.  In  March,  1805, 
Congress  directed  that  "all  that  part  of  the  country"  which 
it  had  theretofore  "called  the  District  of  Louisiana"  should 
henceforth  be  known  as  the  "Territory  of  Louisiana,"  and 
provided  for  a  governor  to  "reside  in  the  territory,"  and  a 
secretary,  and  three  district  judges,  all  to  be  appointed  by 
the  President.  The  governor  and  the  three  judges  were  to 
"make  laws  for  the  government  of  the  inhabitants,"  but 
these  were  to  be  laid  before  Congress,  and  if  disapproved  by 
it  they  were  to  be  of  no  effect. 


240  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

This  was  the  plan  until  June  4,  1812,  when  Congress  de- 
clared that  "the  territory  heretofore  called  Louisiana  shall 
hereafter  be  called  Missouri,"  and  that  "the  legislative  power 
of  the  territory  shall  be  vested  in  a  General  Assembly"  to  be 
composed  of  two  houses,  a  Legislative  Council  and  a  House 
of  Representatives.  There  was  to  be  one  Representative  for 
"every  five  hundred  free  white  male  inhabitants,"  to  be  elect- 
ed by  the  people.  The  first,  assembly  was  to  meet  in  St. 
Louis,  and  to  have  thirteen  Representatives,  but  this  number 
was  to  be  increased  as  population  increased  until  the  whole 
number  reached  25,  and  thereafter  there  could  be  no  larger 
number.  The  Governor  (who  was  still  to  be  appointed  by 
the  President)  was  to  lay  ofT  "the  territory  into  convenient 
counties,"  and  designate  a  place  in  each  where  the  people 
could  vote,  and  appoint  officers  for  conducting  the  first  elec- 
tion, but  thereafter  all  elections  were  to  be  regulated  by  the 
General  Assembly.  A  Representative  was  required  to  be  a 
land-owner,  twenty-one  years  old,  and  a  "white  male  resi- 
dent of  the  territory  for  at  least  one  year." 

The  Legislative  Council  was  composed  of  nine  members, 
and  were  chosen  in  an  unusual  way.  The  Representatives 
nominated  eighteen  "residents  of  the  Territory,  each  possess- 
ing two  hundred  acres  of  land  in  his  own  right,"  and  from 
this  list  the  President  selected  nine  jvho  had  to  be  approved 
by  the  Senate,  and  if  the  Senate  rejected  any  name  the  Presi- 
dent had  to  choose  another  from  among  the  eighteen  names 
on  the  list.  The  nine  men  thus  chosen  constituted  the  Leg- 
islative Council,  and  held  office  for  five  years. 

But  all  "free  white  male  citizens"  of  the  Territory  who 
were  such  at  the  time  Louisiana  was  ceded  to  the  Union  were 
made  eligible  to  hold  any  office,  and  given  the  right  to  vote. 
Hence,  the  French  citizens  (although  not  so  designated)  were 
given  a  preference  over  later  English-speaking  settlers,  since 
they  were  not  required  to  be  land-owners  in  order  to  be  eligible 
to  office. 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  STATE  GOVERNMENT.         241 

The  law  of  1812  also  gave  Missouri  Territory  a  delegate 
*n  Congress,  and  provided  for  territorial  courts  of  every 
grade,  and  vested  in  the  Governor  the  power  to  appoint  all 
judges  thereof,  and  all  other  officers  of  the  Territory. 

This  was  the  territorial  government  provided  by  Con- 
gress for  Missouri  during  the  territorial  days.  On  March  6, 
1820,  Congress  provided  a  plan  under  which  "the  inhabit- 
ants" of  that  portion  of  "Missouri  Territory"  included  with- 
in the  present  boundaries  of  the  State  except  the  Platte  Pur- 
chase, were  authorized  to  **form  a  constitution  and  State  gov- 
ernment." This  constitution  was  framed  in  1820,  and  on 
August  10,  1821,  Missouri,  with  the  same  boundaries  it  now 
has  excepting  the  Platte  Purchase,  was  admitted  into  the 
Union.  The  Constitution  of  1820  remained  in  force  until 
1865  when  it  was  supplanted  by  another,  and  that  by  another 
in  1875,  and  the  one  of  1875,  with  certain  subsequent  amend- 
ments, is  now  the  fundamental  law  of  the  State  governmerlt. 

Questions  on  Chapter  I. 

1.  How  did  the  government  of  Missouri  originate?     (185) 

2.  To  what  nation  did  Missouri  formerly  belong?     (186) 

3.  How  was  it  acquired?     (186) 

4.  What  great  provision  was  in  the  treaty?     (186) 

5.  Was  Congress  under  obligation  to  faithfully  carry  out  that  pro- 

vision?    (186) 

6.  Who  was  authorized  to  take  possession  of  the  territory?     (186) 

7.  Who  authorized  him  to  do  it?     (186) 

8.  Why  could  not  the  people  be  permitted  to  form  a  government  for 

themselves?     (186) 

9.  What  was  the  President  directed  to  do  in  taking  possession?    (186) 

10.  What  was  the  first  arrangement?     (187) 

11.  Who  made  the  laws  for  the  territory?     (187) 

12.  Was  Congress  authorized  by  the  United  States  Constitution  to 

direct  laws  to  be  made  in  that  way?     (176) 

13.  What  name  was  first  given  the  northern  part  of  the  territory? 

What  name  was  next  given?       And  what  was  the  third  name?. 
(187) 

14.  Who  made  laws  for  the  territory  of  Missouri?     (187) 
16 


242  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

15.  How   many   Representatives,    how    and   by   whom   elected,   and 

qualifications?     (187) 

16.  How  many  Councilors,  how  and  by  whom  elected,    and    qualifi- 

cations?    (187) 

17.  Who  could  vote?     (187) 

18.  What  other  officers  did  the  law  of  1812  give  Missouri  Territory, 

and  how  were  they  selected?     (187) 

19.  What  is  said  about  the  organization  of  Missouri  as  a  State  and  its 

admisvsion  to  the  Union?     (187) 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  MISSOURI  CONSTITUTION. 

188.  The  Constitution.— The  Constitution  of  Mis- 
souri is  the  fundamental  law  of  the  State  government,  just  as 
we  have  seen  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  to  be  the 
fundamental  law  of  the  whole  Union.  The  Constitution  of 
a  State  may  contain  any  provision  that  its  people  may  wish 
to  put  into  it,  with  one  exception,  and  that  is,  it  must  not  con- 
tain anything  in  conflict  with  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States.  .  That  means,  it  must  provide  for  a  republican  form 
of  government  for  the  people  of  the  State,  and  it  must  not 
authorize  the  Legislature  or  other  State  ofificers  to  exercise 
any  power  which  we  have  seen  the  Federal  Constitution  de- 
nied to  the  States  or  provided  that  Congress  alone  should 
exercise. 

189.  How  Framed  and  Adopted. — The  Constitution 
of  the  United  States  Was  ratified  by  conventions  in  the  dif- 
ferent Staties,  composed  of  delegates  chosen  for  that  purpose 
by  the  people;  the  present  Constitution  of  Missouri  was 
framed  by  a  convention  of  delegates  chosen  by  the  people 
for  that  express  purpose,  and  then  submitted  to  the  people 
at  the  polls,  who  adopted  it  on  October  30,  1875.  It  took 
effect,  according  to  its  terms,  on  November  30th  of  the  same 
year. 


THE   MISSOURI  CONSTITUTION.  243 

190.  Why  Not  Discussed  at  Length. — The  Constitu- 
tion of  Missouri  is  a  lengthy  document.  It  consists  of  fifteen 
articles  and  a  schedule,  and  a  full  discussion  of  the  whole 
of  it  would  require  a  large  volume.  To  set  it  out  in  full 
would  take  seventy  or  eighty  pages  of  this  book.  Nor  is 
that  necessary.  So  much  of  it  as  should  be  known  by  the 
average  student  will  be  explained. 

191.  Bill  of  Rights. — Thirty-two  sections  of  the  Con- 
stitution, or  all  of  Article  II,  are  given  up  to  a  clear  declara- 
tion of  the  rights  of  a  citizen,  the  rights  of  the  State  and  the 
rights  of  the  Union.  This  article  is  called  the  *  *  Bill  of  Rights." 
It  declares,  among  other  things,  that  "all  political  power  is 
vested  in  the  people;"  that  "the  people  of  this  State  have  the 
inherent,  sole  and  exclusive  right  to  regulate  the  internal 
government  thereof;"  that  "Missouri  is  a  free  and  independ- 
ent State,  subject  only  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States;"  that  "the  people  of  this  State  will  never  assent  to 
any  amendment  or  change  of  the  Constitution  of  the' United 
States  which  may  in  anywise  impair  the  right  of  local  self- 
government  belonging  to  the  people  of  this  State;"  that  "all 
elections  shall  be  free  and  open,  and  no  power,  civil  or  mili- 
tary, shall  at  any  time  interfere  to  prevent  the  free  exercise 
of  the  right  of  suffrage;"  that  "all  persons  have  a  natural 
right  to  life,  liberty,  and  the  enjoyment  of  the  gains  of  their 
own  industry;"  and  "that  to  give  security  to  these  things  is 
the  principal  office  of  government."  Every  State  has  a  simi- 
lar bill  of  rights.  They  all  set  forth  the  rights  of  the  people, 
and  the  purposes  for  which  government  among  them  is  estab- 
lished. 

192.  How  Amended. — The  Constitution  prescribes  two 
ways  by  which  it  can  be  amended.  The  first  is  for  the  Leg- 
islature, or  the  people  by  an  initiative  petition,  to  propose 
an  amendment  to  a  certain  section,  to  be  submitted  to  the 
voters  at  the  next  general  election,  and  if  a  majority  of  those 


244  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OP  MISSOURI. 

voting  on  the  proposition  vote  for  it  it  becomes  a  part  of  the 
Constitution.  This  would  seem  to  be  a  very  easy  way;  in  fact, 
too  easy.  It  does  not  require  a  majority  of  all  the  voters 
voting  at  the  election  to  vote  for  the  amendment;  it  simply 
requires  that  there  be  more  votes  "yes"  than  "no."  The 
amendment  is  printed  on  separate  election  ballots,  and 
those  who  desire  its  adoption  simply  scratch  out  the  word 
"no,"  and  all  ballots  scratched  in  that  way  are  counted  for 
the  amendment.  But  if  the  voter  does  not  scratch  out 
either  the  word  "yes"  or  "no,"  the  ballot  is  not  counted  either 
for  or  against  the  amendment.  A  majority  of  the  voters  who 
go  to  the  polls  and  vote  for  candidates  for  office  do  not  vote 
either  yes  or  no;  it  is  usually  only  those  voters  whose  atten- 
tion has  been  called  to  it  and  who  have  thereby  been  aroused 
to  favor  or  oppose  it,  that  vote  on  the  proposition  at  all.  So 
that  it  comes  about  that  no  amendment  ever  receives  a  major- 
ity of  all  the  votes  cast  at  the  election.  The  result  for  some 
years  was  that  several  amendments  were  adopted  that  never 
would  have  been  had  all  the  voters  taken  the  pains  to  vote  "on 
the  proposition."  But  in  recent  years  this  method  of  amending 
the  Constitution  has  not  proved  an  easy  way.  Between 
1910  and  1914  thirty-one  amendments  were  proposed  and  all 
of  them  overwhelmingly  defeated.  There  were  two  reasons 
for  this  result.  The  first  was  that  proposed  amendments 
must  be  voted  for  at  the  general  election  held  in  November, 
when  national,  state  and  county  officers  are  elected.  In  the 
campaign  preceding  that  election  the  public  interest  is  absorbed 
almost  entirely  in  party  policies  and  in  electing  or  defeating 
the  various  candidates.  There  is  little  discussion  of  the  pro- 
posed amendments,  either  by  public  speakers  or  the  press. 
So  serious  a  proposition  as  one  to  amend  the  Constitution 
should  not  be  decided  at  a  general  election,  when  it  will  be 
overshadowed  by  partisan  politics,  but  at  a  special  election 
separated  from  contentions  for  office,  when  the  minds  of  the. 
people  are  free  to  consider  it  on  its  merits.     The  second  reason 


THE  MISSOURI  CONSTITUTION.  '  245 

is  that  at  those  elections  a  large  number  of  amendments  were 
proposed,  some  of  which  were  very  obnoxious  to  the  people, 
and  in  order  to  defeat  them  they  voted  "no"  on  all,  and  the 
result  was  that  some  very  meritorious  amendments,  that  if 
separately  proposed  would  have  been  adopted,  were  defeated, 
along  with  the  bad  ones.  The  unanimity  with  which  a  large 
number  of  voters  vote  no  on  every  amendment,  in  order  to  be 
sure  of  voting  against  some  they  do  not  like,  has  made  it  al- 
most impossible  to  amend  the  Constitution  by  this  seem- 
ingly easy  method. 

The  second  method  of  amending  the  Constitution  is 
much  more  difficult.  It  consists  of  four  steps:  (1)  The 
Legislature  authorizes  a  vote  of  the  people  on  the  calling  of 
a  convention  to  revise  or  amend  the  Constitution.  If  a  ma- 
jority of  the  persons  voting  on  the  proposition  vote  for  such 
convention,  then  the  Governor  fixes  an  election  day  when 
(2)  delegates  may  be  chosen  thereto,  and  these  delegates  when 
they  meet  in  convention  (3)  may  revise  the  Constitution  to 
any  extent  they  please,  and  then  (4)  the  Constitution  as  thus 
revised  and  amended  is  to  be  submitted  to  a  vote  of  the  peo- 
ple at  an  election  held  for  that  purpose  and  they  must  adopt 
or  reject  it  as  a  whole,  by  a  majority  of  the  votes  cast.  Thus 
before  a  general  change  in  the  Constitution  can  be  secured 
the  proposition  must  come  before  the  people  at  three  separate 
elections.  This  is  right.  The  fundamental  law  of  a  people 
should  not  be  changed  unless  there  is  a  clear  necessity  for  it. 

193.  The  Three  Departments. — The  Constitution  divid- 
ed "the  powers  of  government"  into  three  departments 
similar  to  the  three  departments  of  the  government  of  the 
United  States.  There  is  an  executive,  a  legislative  and  a 
judicial  department,  and  each  is  distinct  and  separate  from 
the  others,  "and  no  person,  or  collection  of  persons  charged 
with  the  exercise  of  powers  properly  belonging  to  one  of  these 
departments,  shall  exercise  any  power  properly  belonging  to 
the  others."     The  Governor  cannot,  for  instance,  call  a  grand 


246  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OP  MISSOURI. 

jury  or  direct  what  decision  a  court  shall  render,  for  that  is 
a  judicial  matter.  The  Supreme  Court  cannot  compel  the 
Legislature  to  pass  a  law,  or  restrain  it  from  passing  one,  for 
that  is  a  legislative  matter.  The  Legislature  cannot  shackle 
the  courts  so  as  to  compel  them  to  render  a  certain  decision. 
The  duties  of  each  department  are  laid  out  in  the  Constitution, 
and '  government  is  stronger  and  better  when  each  confines 
itself  to  its  own  work. 

194.  Executive  Department. — The  chief  executive  of- 
ficers of  Missouri  are  a  Governor,  in  his  absence  a  Lieuten- 
ant-Governor, Secretary  of  State,  State  Auditor,  State  Treas- 
urer, Attorney-General  and  Superintendent  of  Public  Schools. 
These  are  all  provided  for  by  the  Constitution,  and  hence  the 
Legislature  has  no  power  to  abolish  their  offices.  They  are 
all  elected  by  the  people.  There  are  other  State  executive 
officers,  such  as  Public  Service  Commissioners,  Superintend- 
ent of  Insurance,  Bank  Commissioners,  Labor  Commissioner 
and  Adjutant-General,  but  they  are  not  mentioned  in  the 
Constitution,  but  have  been  provided  for  by  the  General 
Assembly,  and  are  appointed  by  the  Governor.  There  are 
other  executive  officers  provided  for  by  law  for  counties,  cities, 
schools  and  the  various  institutions  belonging  to  the  State. 
These  will  be  discussed  elsewhere. 

195.  Legislative  Department. — The  law-making  body 
is  the  General  Assembly,  composed  of  two  houses,  a  Senate 
and  a  House  of  Representatives.  In  each  city  there  is  a 
minor  legislative  body  called  a  municipal  assembly,  council, 
or  board  of  aldermen,  and  these  will  be  discussed  under  the 
heading  of  Cities,  Towns  and  Villages. 

196.  Judicial  Department. — The  judiciary  of  the  State 
consists  of  one  Supreme  Court,  whose  sessions  are  held  at 
Jefferson  City;  the  St.  Louis  Court  of  Appeals,  the  Kansas 
City  Court  of  Appeals  and  the  Springfield  Court  of  Appeals, 
which  are  appellate  courts  in  misdemeanor  cases  and  in  civi 


THE  MISSOURI  CONSTITUTION.  247 

suits  in  which  the  amount  of  money  in  dispute  is  less  than 
$7,500;  the  circuit  courts,  each  of  which  has  jurisdiction  over 
one  or  more  counties,  and  are  the  great  trial  courts  of  the 
State;  probate  courts,  for  the  settlement  of  the  estates  of 
deceased  persons  and  the  care  of  the  persons  and  the  manage- 
ment of  the  estates  of  orphaned  minors  and  insane  persons; 
and  justices  of  the  peace  for  each  township.  There' are  also 
in  certain  parts  of  the  State  courts  of  common  pleas  and 
criminal  courts. 

Question  on  Chapter  II. 

1.  What  is  the  fundamental  law  of  the  state  and  how  far  is  it  such? 

(188) 

2.  What  must  it  provide?     (188) 

3.  Can  the  State  exercise  any  power  denied  it  by  United  States  Con- 

stitution?    (188) 

4.  How  was  the  Missouri  Constitution  framed  and  adopted?     (189) 

5.  Why  is  it  not  discussed  at  length?     (190) 

6.  Mention  some  declarations  of  the  Bill  of  Rights.     (191) 

7.  What  is  the  first  way  in  which  the  Constitution  may  be  amend- 

ed?    (192) 

8.  To  be  adopted  must  the  proposed  amendment  receive  a  majority 

of  all  the  votes  on  the  proposition?     (192) 

9.  Who  usually  vote  on  the  proposition?     (192) 

10.  Discuss  at  length  why  it  has  become,  so  difficult  to  amend  the 

Constitution  in  this  way?      (192). 

11.  W^hat  is  the  other  method  by  which  the  Constitution  may  be 

amended?     (192) 

12.  What  three  departments  of  government?     (193) 

13.  Explain"  how  they  are  separate  and  distinct.     (193) 

14.  Who  are  the  chief  executive  officers?     (194) 

15.  Are  there  any  others?     (194) 

16.  What  is  the  law-making  body?     (195) 

17.  Are  there  any  minor  legislative  bodies?     (195) 

18.  Of  what  courts  does  the  judiciary  of  the  State  consist?     (196) 


248  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

CHAPTER  III. 

THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY. 

197.  Composed  of  Two  Houses. — The  General  Assem- 
bly of  the  State  of  Missouri  is  usually  spoken  of  as  the  Legis- 
lature, but  it  is  not  so  designated  in  the  Constitution,  nor 
in  the  statutes.  It  is  composed  of  two  houses,  the  Senate 
and  House  of  Representatives.  And  here  again,  as  with 
the  Congress,  the  Senate  is  sometimes  referred  to  as  the 
Upper  House,  and  the  House  of  Representatives  as  the  Low- 
er House.  But  those  designations  have  no  real  significance, 
and  are  not  justified  by  any  law,  or  by  any  other  fact,  unless 
it  be  that  the  office  of  Senator  is  considered  somewhat  more 
honorable  and  powerful  than  that  of  Representative.  The 
use  of  these  terms  reminds  one  of  the  old  Colonial  days  along 
the  Atlantic  coast,  when  the  Governor's  council  was  styled 
the  Upper  House,  and  the  people's  representatives  or  the 
assembly  were  spoken  of  as  the  Lower  House.  That  use  is 
now  chiefly  of  interest  as  an  historical  illustration  of  the  fact 
that  a  law  or  custom  may  survive  in  the  minds  of  the  people 
Jong  after  it  has  in  fact  been  abolished. 

198.  The  House  of  Representatives  is  the  most  nu- 
merous branch  of  the  General  Assembly.  Its  members  are 
chosen  at  the  general  elections  in  November  of  each  even- 
numbered  year  for  a  term  of  two  years  beginning  the  follow- 
ing January.  Each  county  is  entitled  to  one  Representative, 
and  the  larger  counties  to  more  than  one.  The  method  of 
apportionment,  which  is  made  once  in  ten  years,  is  a  peculiar 
one.  First,  a  ratio  is  obtained  by  dividing  the  whole  num- 
ber of  inhabitants  in  the  State  by  200.  Then  each  county 
that  has  two  and  one-half  times  said  ratio  is  entitled  to  two 
Representatives;  each  county  having  four  times  said  ratio 


THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY.  249 

is  entitled  to  three;  each  county  having  six  times  said  ratio 
is  entitled  to  four,  and  so  on  above  that  number,  there  being 
one  additional  Representative  for  every  two  and  one-half 
ratios.  This  ratio  at  the  present  time  is  about  16,467,  so 
that  a  county  must  have  about  41,167  inhabitants  before  it 
can  have  two  Representatives,  about  65,867  before  it  can 
have  three,  about  98,800  before  it  can  have  four,  and  for 
every  41,167  inhabitants  above  that  number  it  can  have  one 
more  Representative.  This  rule  of  apportionment  will,  for 
many  years  at  least,  give  the  rural  communities  a  majority 
of  Representatives  in  the  General  Assembly.  More  than 
half  of  the  population  of  the  State  might  be  in  two  or  three  large 
cities,  yet  a  majority  of  the  Representatives  would  still  come 
from  that  part  of  the  State  outside  of  such  cities,  because 
each  county,  however  few  its  inhabitants,  must  have  at  least 
one  Representative.  Representation  in  the  House  is  largely 
representation  by  counties,  though  partly  in  proportion  to 
population.  In  New  England,  where  towns  take  the  place  of 
counties,  representation  in  the  House  is  even  more  emphat- 
ically representation  by  towns,  though  partly  in  proportion 
to  population.  We  shall  see  in  the  next  section  that  repre- 
sentation in  the  Senate  is  according  to  population. 

The  General  Assembly,  guided  by  this  rule  of  apportion- 
ment, determines  the  number  of  Representatives  to  which 
a  county  is  entitled,  and  it  is  required  by  the  Constitution 
to  do  that  "at  the  first  session  of  the  General  Assembly" 
after  the  taking  of  each  decennial  census.  When  by  a  law 
the  General  Assembly  hcis  said  what  number  of  Represent- 
atives a  county  may  have,  if  more  than  one,  it  becomes  the 
duty  of  the  county  court  to  divide  the  county  into  an  equal 
number  of  legislative  districts,  having  about  the  same  num- 
ber of  inhabitants,  and  thereafter  for  the  next  ten  years  one 
Representative  is  elected  from  each  by  the  voters  residing 
therein.  That  is  the  rule  for  the  entire  State  unless  a  county 
is  entitled  to  ten  or  more,  which  means  for  the  whole  State 


250  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

except  St.  Louis,  which  is  classified  as  a  county.  In  such  a 
county,  or  that  city,  the  circuit  court  divides  the  county 
into  districts  so  as  to  give  to  each  district  not  less  than  two 
nor  more  than  four  Representatives,  and  they  are  required 
to  be  residents  of  the  district  by  which  elected. 

199.  The  Senate. — The  Senate  is  composed  of  thirty- 
four  Senators,  elected  by  the  people  of  their  respective  dis- 
tricts, each  for  a  term  of  four  years.  At  the  first  session  of 
the  Legislature  after  the  taking  of  the  decennial  census,  the 
State  is  divided  into  thirty-four  districts  "as  nearly  equal  in 
population  as  may  be"  without  dividing  any  county.  These 
districts  are  numbered  from  1  to  34,  and  on  Presidential 
years  one  Senator  is  elected  from  each  of  those  having  odd 
numbers,  and  two  years  later  one  from  each  of  those  having 
even  numbers.  A  county  cannot  be  partly  in  one  district 
and  partly  in  another,  but  it  may  have  more  than  one  Sen- 
ator if  it  has  the  requisite  number  of  inhabitants.  The  ad- 
vantage of  the  rule  requiring  one-half  the  Senators  to  be  elect- 
ed every  two  years  is  that  at  the  opening  of  each  session  one- 
half  of  the  Senators  are  experienced  members. 

If  the  Legislature  fails  to  divide  the  State  into  senatorial 
districts,  it  becomes  the  duty  of  the  Governor,  Secretary  of 
State  and  Attorney-General  to  do  so  within  thirty  days  after 
the  Legislature  adjourns.  W^hen  by  such  division,  whether 
made  by  those  officers  or  the  Legislature,  a  county  (such  as 
St.  "Louis  or  Jackson  County)  is  entitled  to  more  than  one 
Senator,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  circuit  court  to  divide  it  into  as 
many  districts  as  it  is  entitled  to  Senators,  and  then  one  is 
elected  from  each  district  by  the  people  thereof. 

The  General  Assembly  has  rarely  been  able  to  agree  up- 
on a  bill  dividing  the  State  into  senatorial  districts.  It  failed 
to  do  so  in  1891  and  1901,  and  the  districts  were  formed  by 
the  three  executive  officers  named  above.  In  191 1  it  again  failed 
to  do  so,  and  the  three  executive  officers  could  not  agree  upon 
the  formation  of  districts.     The  Secretary  of  State  and  Attor- 


THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY.  251 

ney-General  did  agree,  rearranged  the  districts,  and  filed  in 
the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  State  a  full  statement  of  the  dis- 
tricts formed  by  them,  in  the  manner  required  by  the  Con- 
stitution ;  but  the  Constitution  says  that  the  formation  of  dis- 
tricts by  the  executive  officers  shall  be  binding  and  effectual 
''upon  the.  proclamation  of  the  Governor,"  and  he  refused  to 
make  such  proclamation,  and  the  Supreme  Court  held  that 
without  his  proclamation  such  a  formation  was  ineffectual, 
and  hence  the  attempted  division  failed.  The  result  was  that 
the  senatorial  districts  remained  for  the  next  ten  years  just 
as  they  were  formed  in  1901. 

200.  Presiding  Officers. — ^The  presiding  officer  of  the 
House  is  the  Speaker,  who  is  chosen  by  the  Representatives 
from  among  themselves.  To  preside  in  his  absence  there  is 
a  Speaker  pro  tempore,  chosen  in  the  same  way.  The  presid- 
ing officer  of  the  Senate  is  the  Lieutenant-Governor,  who  is 
made  such  by  the  Constitution.  To  preside  in  his  absence 
the  Senators  choose  from  their  own  number  a  President  of 
the  Senate  pro  tempore.  The  Speaker  may  be  removed  from 
his  position  by  a  majority  of  the  Representatives  at  any  time; 
the  Lieutenant-Governor  can  be  removed  as  presiding  officer 
of  the  Senate  only  by  being  rem.oved  from  his  office  as  Lieu- 
tenant-Governor, that  is,  by  impeachment.  The  records  of 
the  Senate  are  kept  by  a  Secretary,  assisted  by  numerous 
clerks,  all  elected  or  appointed  by  the  Senate.  The  records 
of  the  House  are  kept  by  a  Chief  Clerk,  who  is  assisted  by 
numerous  other  clerks,  all  elected  or  appointed  by  the  House. 
Each  house  elects  a  sergeant  at  arms,  a  doorkeeper  and  a 
chaplain. 

The  Speaker  and  Lieutenant-Governor  usually  appoint 
the  committees  of  the  respective  houses.  They  are  not  given 
that  right  by  the  Constitution  or  the  statutes,  but  it  is  a 
privilege  usually  accorded  to  them.  But  a  majority  of  either 
house  can  at  any  time  order  its  committees  to  be  appointed 


252  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

in  some  other  way,  and  the  Senate  in  late  years  has  author- 
ized the  President  pro  tempore  to  appoint  its  committees. 

201.  Qualifications. — A  Senator  must  be  thirty,  and 
a  Representative  twenty-four,  years  of  age.  A  Senator  must 
have  been  a  qualified  voter  of  this  State  for  three  years  prior 
to  his  election,  and  a  Representative  a  qualified  voter  for  two 
years,  and  both  must  be  male  citizens  of  the  United  States; 
that  is,  either  born  in  the  United  States  or  naturalized.  A 
Senator  must  have  resided  in  his  district  for  one  year  before 
his  election,  and  a  Representative  in  his  county  or  district  for 
the  same  length  of  time ;  and  each  must  have  paid  a  state  and 
county  tax  within  the  year  preceding  his  election. 

202.  Compensation. — The  pay  of  a  Senator  or  Rep- 
resentative is  five  dollars  a  day  for  the  first  seventy  days  of 
an  ordinary  sCvSsion,  and  one  dollar  per  day  for  the  remainder 
of  such  session.  For  revising  sessions  they  are  paid  five 
dollars  per  day  for  one  hundred  and  twenty  days,  and  one 
dollar  a  day  thereafter.  In  addition  to  this,  each  member  of 
either  house  is  allowed  necessary  traveling  expenses  frorn  his 
home  to  the  capital  aiid  for  the  return,  and  thirty  dollars  for 
postage  and  other  like  expenses. 

The  pay  of  a  Senator  or  Representative  is  ridiculously 
low.  It  is  not  claimed  that  it  is  a  just  compensation  to  a 
worthy  legislator  for  the  public  service  he  renders.  Mem- 
bers of  Parliament  in  England  have  never  been  paid  any  salary, 
and  the  view  long  prevailed  in  America  that  it  was  dishonorable 
for  a  legislator  to  receive  money  for  making  laws  for  his  peo- 
ple, and  that  his  whole  pay  should  be  such  an  amount  as 
would  reimburse  him  for  his  actual  expenses,  and  that  idea 
still  persisted  when  our  Constitution  was  framed  in  1875.  It 
was  an  idea  that  might  have  been  patiently  tolerated  in  the  days 
when  only  men  of  much  leisure  and  independent  fortunes  were 
members  of  legislative  assemblies;  but  we  have  reached  the 
time  in  America  when  all  men  who  are  fit  to  be  legislators 


THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY.  253 

and  are  capable  of  making  laws  for  a  great  State  are  men  who  in 
some  honorable  way  work  for  their  living,  and  that  being  true, 
members  of  the  Legislature  should  be  paid  a  just  compensation 
for  their  services  to  the  State. 

203.  Holding  Other  Offices. — No  Senator  or  Repre- 
sentative shall  "during  the  term  for  w^hich  he  shall  have  been 
elected  be  appointed  to  any  office  under  this  State  or  any 
municipality  thereof."  This  is  one  of  the  wholesome  pro- 
visions of  the  Constitution.  It  was  designed  to  prohibit 
legsilators  from  creating  new  offices  for  themselves,  and  from 
increasing  the  salaries  of  some  county  or  city  office  to  which 
they  might  expect  to  be  appointed,  and  also  to  leave  them  free 
to  legislate  as  the  public  interest  might  require.  All  tempta- 
tion of  that  kind  is  removed  from  the  legislator  by  this  pro- 
vision. The  Legislature  may  create  a  new  office,  and  the  legisla- 
tor may  resign  his  seat  and  be  elected  to  it.  But  he  cannot  be 
appointed  to  it  at  any  time  during  the  time  for  which  he  was 
elected ;  that  is,  during  two  years  if  a  Representative,  or  four 
years  if  a  Senator.  Even  if  he  were  to  resign  he  could  not 
be  appointed  to  any  other  office  under  the  laws  of  this  State 
until  the  term  for  which  he  was  elected  had  expired.  He 
may  resign  and  be  elected  by  the  people  to  any  such  other 
office,  but  he  cannot  be  appointed.  In  this  way  the  people 
have  a  chance  to  determine  whether  or  not  he  used  his  posi- 
tion as  legislator  for  his  own  benefit  in  creating  a  new  office 
or  in  increasing  the  salary  of  one  already  created.  Of  course, 
he  may  resign  and  be  appointed  or  elected  to  any  United 
States  office,  but  by  resigning  he  does  not  become  eligible  to 
be  appointed  to  any  state,  county  or  city  office,  either  by  the 
Governor,  or  by  any  board  or  by  any  court  or  by  any  mayor. 
Nor  can  a  member  of  Congress,  or  any  person  holding  any 
lucrative  office  of  the  United  States  or  of  this  State,  be  at 
the  same  time  a  member  of  the  General  Assembly.  The 
meaning  of  these  provisions  in  the  Constitution  is  that  mem- 
bers of  the  Legislature  are  not  in  any  wise  to  become  entan- 


254  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OP  MISSOURI. 

gled  with  the  duties  of  any  other  office  which  might  interfere 
with  their  duties  as  legislators. 

204.  Oath  of  Office. — Every  officer  in  this  State,  from 
the  highest  to  the  lowest,  is  required  to  take  an  oath  of  office. 
That  prescribed  by  the  Constitution  for  the  members  of  the 
Legislature  is  in  these  words:  "I  do  solemnly  swear  (or 
affirm)  that  I  will  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  and  of  the  State  of  Missouri,  and  faithfully  perform 
the  duties  of  my  office ;  and  that  I  will  not  knowingly  receive, 
directly  or  indirectly,  any  money  or  other  valuable  thing,  for 
the  performance  or  non-performance  of  any  act  or  duty  per- 
taining to  my  office,  other  than  the  compensation  allowed  by 
law."  If  any  person  elected  to  the  office  of  Senator  or  Rep- 
resentative refuse  to  take  this  oath,  he  thereby  vacates  the 
office.  The  oath  for  other  officers  varies  slightly  from  this, 
the  variation  having  regard  to  the  duties  to  be  performed  by 
them. 

205.  Sessions. — The  General  Assembly  meets  in  regu- 
lar session  on  the  first  Wednesday  after  the  first  day  of  Jan- 
uary of  each  odd-numbered  year^  and  fixes  its  own  time  for 
final  adjournment.  An  extra  session  may  be  called  by  the 
Governor  at  any  time,  but  such  session  can  consider  only  the 
subjects  mentioned  in  the  Governor's  call  or  in  special  mes- 
sages sent  in  by  him  after  it  convenes.  The  proceedings  are 
public,  the  Constitution  saying  that  "the  sessions  of  each 
house  shall  be  held  with  open  doors,  except  in  cases  which 
may  require  secrecy." 

206.  Powers  of  Each  House. — Each  House  has  the 
right  to  appoint  its  own  officers,  and  to  determine  the  right 
of  any  member  to  his  seat,  and  to  make  rules  for  governing 
its  proceedings.  It  may  punish  any  disorderly  member,  and 
with  the  concurrence  of  two-thirds  of  all  the  members  may 
expel  a  member;  but  no  member  who  has  once  been  expelled 
and  has  again  been  elected  by  the  people  can  be  again  ex- 
pelled for  the  same  cause. 


THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY.  255 

207.  A  Law,  How  Passed. — A  bill  to  become  a  law 
must  receive  the  vote  of  a  majority  of  the  members  elected 
to  each  house  and  be  signed  by  the  Governor;  or,  if  vetoed  by 
the  Governor,  that  is,  returned  to  the  House  in  which  it  orig- 
inated without  his  signature  and  with  his  objections,  it  must 
then  receive  the  votes  of  two-thirds  of  the  members  of  each 
house.  If  the  Governor  does  not,  within  ten  days,  approve 
or  disapprove  a  bill,  nor  return  it  to  the  house  in  which  it 
originated,  it  may,  by  a  resolution  passed  by  both  houses 
reciting  such  fact,  become  a  law  anyhow.  If  the  General 
Assembly  has  adjourned  within  ten  days  after  a  bill  is  pre- 
sented to  the  Governor,  he  may,  within  thirty  days,  return 
it  to  the  Secretary  of  State  with  his  approval  or  veto;  and  if 
approved  by  him  within  that  time  it  becomes  a  law;  if  vetoed, 
it  does  not  become  a  law. 

208.  Committees  and  Rules. — The  rules  adopted  by 
each  house  provide  for  the  appointment  of  numerous  com- 
mittees. To  one  of  these  committees  a  bill  when  introduced 
in  either  house  is  referred,  and  that  committee  will  report  it 
back  to  the  house  with  a  recommendation  that  "it  do  pass," 
or  that  "it  do  not  pass,"  or  that  "it  pass  with  certain  amend- 
ments" proposed  by  the  committee,  or  that  a  substitute 
framed  by  the  committee  be  passed  in  its  stead.  Then  the 
bill  is  again  in  the  house,  and  when  it  is  called  up  there  other 
amendments  to  the  original  bill  or  to  the  amended  bill  or  to 
the  proposed  substitute  may  be  made  by  the  whole  house. 
The  next  step  is  to  pass  the  original  bill  or  the  amended  bill 
or  the  substitute  to  engrossment.  If  it  is  not  ordered  en- 
grossed that  is  the  end  of  it ;  but  if  it  is  passed  to  engrossment 
it  is  printed,  and  its  number  placed  on  the  calendar  of  bills 
ready  for  final  passage,  and  in  due  course  that  number  is 
reached  on  the  call  of  the  calendar,  and  the  bill  as  engrossed 
put  on  its  final  passage,  and  then  it  must  receive  the  votes  of 
a  majority  of  all  the  members  of  the  house  or  fail  of  passage. 


256  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

If  it  receives  such  a  majority,  it  is  sent  to  the  other  house, 
and  there  it  is  referred  to  the  proper  committee,  which  re- 
ports it  back  to  that  house  with  a  recommendation  that  "it 
do  pass"  or  that  "it  do  not  pass,"  or  that  "it  pass  with  cer- 
tain amendments"  proposed  by  the  committee,  or  that  a  sub- 
stitute framed  by  the  committee  be  passed  in  its  stead.  Then 
it  is  back  in  that  house,  and  when  it  is  called  up  there  other 
amendments  to  the  bill  as  it  was  received  from  the  other 
house  or  to  the  committee's  proposed  substitute  may  be 
made  or  an  entirely  new  substitute  may  be  adopted.  The 
next  step  is  to  pass  the  bill  thus  adopted  to  engrossment;  if 
that  is  done,  it  is  printed,  and  placed  on  .the  calendar  of  bills 
ready  for  final  passage,  and  when  it  is  reached  on  the  calen- 
dar it  is  put  on  its  final  passage,  and  if  a  majority  of  all  the 
members  of  that  house  vote  for  it,  it  is  declared  passed.  If 
it  has  not  been  amended  in  any  wise  since  it  reached  that 
house,  it  then  goes  to  the  Governor  for  his  approval  or  veto. 

If  it  has  been  amended  in  that  house,  it  must  then  returij 
to  the  house  from  which  it  came,  and  if  that  house  concurs 
in  the  amendments,  it  goes  to  the  Governor;  if  that  house 
does  not  concur  in  the  amendments,  it  can  indefinitely  post- 
pone any  further  consideration  of  the  bill,  or  ask  for  a  com- 
mittee of  conference  to  meet  a  like  committee  from  the  other 
house.  These  committees,  when  they  get  together  and  agree 
on  the  points  in  dispute,  make  the  same  report  to  their  re- 
spective houses,  and  then  if  their  recommendations  are 
adopted  by  both  houses  the  bill  with  their  recommendations 
is  declared  passed  and  goes  to  the  Governor  as  before.  But 
if  those  conference  committees  cannot  agree,  they  so  report 
to  their  respective  houses;  then  the  house  refusing  to  concur 
in  the  amendments  made  by  the-Other  must  recede  from  that 
action  or  the  bill  fails. 

Every  bill  must  be  read  on  three  different  days  in  each 
house.  It  is  read  the  first  time  (by  its  title  only)  on  the  day 
it  is  referred  to  a  committee.     It  is  read  the  second  time  when 


THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY.  257 

it  comes  up  for  engrossment,  and  the  third  time  when  it  is 
put  upon  its  final  passage.  Each  of  these  actions  must  be 
taken  on  different  days.  So  the  shortest  time  in  which  a 
bill  can  be  passed  through  both  houses  is  usually  six  days.  Few 
bills  ever  have  such  an  expeditious  movement  through  the 
Legislature  as  that. 

209.  Journals  of  Yeas  and  Nays. — On  the  final  pas- 
sage of  a  bill  the  roll  of  members  is  called  and  the  vote  is  taken 
by  yeas  and  nays,  and  the  names  of  members  voting  for  and 
against  the  bill  are  entered  on  the  journal,  and  unless  a  ma- 
jority of  all  the  members  of  the  house  vote  yea  the  bill  is 
declared  lost.  That  journal  is  publislied  in  book-form  after 
adjournment,  in  order  that  the  people  may  definitely  know 
how  each  member  voted.  It  takes  only  a  majority  of  those 
voting  on  the  proposition  to  pass  a  bill  to  engrossment,  not  a 
majority  of  all  members,  and  consequently  the  yeas  and  nays 
are  rarely  taken  on  the  proposition  to  pass  a  bill  to  engross- 
ment, but  on  the  demand  of  any  two  members  a  yea-and- 
nay  vote  may  be  taken  on  any  question. 

210.  Appropriation  Bills. — The  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  provides  that  "all  bills  for  raising  revenue  shall 
originate  in  the  House  of  Representatives,"  and  that  has 
uniformly  been  held  to  mean  that  bills  for  the  appropriation 
of  public  moneys  shall  originate  in  the  House,  too.  But  the 
Missouri  Constitution  contains  no  such  provision.  It  pro- 
vides that  "bills  may  originate  in  either  house,"  and  that 
means  that  bills  for  levying  taxes  and  for  the  appropriation 
of  public  moneys  may  originate  in  the  Senate  as  well  as  in  the 
House.  But  in  practice  it  has  become  the  rule  in  the  General 
Assembly  for  appropriation  bills  to  originate  in  the  House, 
but  the  Senate  has  the  power  to  amend  any  such  bill,  just  as 
it  may  any  other  bill. 

211. •-  Order  of  Appropriations. — But  the  Constitution 
fixes  the  order  in  which  the  Legislature  must  make  appro- 

17 


258  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

priations.  It  must  first  provide  for  the  payment  of  the  in- 
terest due  the  Seminary  Fund,  the  PubHc  School  Fund  or 
other  bonded  debt,  then  for  the  support  of  the  pubHc  schools, 
then  for  the  cost  of  collecting  the  revenue,  then  for  the  sala- 
ries of  State  officers,  judges,  etc.,  then  for  the  support  of  the 
various  asylums,  and  last  of  all  for  the  pay  of  its  own  members 
and  for  other  necessary  purposes.  Thus,  the  Legislature  is 
compelled  to  provide  for  the  support  of  the  other  branches  of 
the  government  before  its  members  can  have  their  own  small 
salaries  and  the  compensation  of  its  clerks  paid,  and  in  this 
way  they  are  forced  to  see  to  it  that  the  appropriations  do 
not  outrun  the  revenues  that  will  be  received  into  the  Treas- 
ury during  the  next  two  years. 

212.  Money,  How  Paid  Out. — Whenever  any  money 
belonging  to  the  State,  such  as  taxes  or  fees,  or  from  what- 
ever source  derived,  is  received  by  a  county  collector  or  any 
other  officer,  it  must  be  paid  into  the  State  Treasury;  and 
no  money  can  be  paid  out  by  the  State  Treasurer  or  by  the 
Governor  or  by  any  one  else  except  in  pursuance  to  appro- 
priation bills  passed  by  the  Legislature.  The  General  Assem- 
bly must  first  determine  how  the  public  moneys  are  to  be 
spent.  That  it  does  through  appropriation  bills,  and  the 
money  can  be  spent  in  no  other  way  except  as  in  the  appro- 
priation bills  provided.  But  "money  belonging  to  the  State" 
does  not  usually  mean  the  cost  of  collection.  It  usually  means 
the  net  amount  remaining  after  the  expense  of  collecting 
it,  such  as  the  collector's  commissions,  is  deducted. 

213.  Power  of  the   Governor   Over  Appropriations. — 

But  even  then  an  appropriation  bill  is  not  final,  for  the  Gov- 
ernor can  strike  from  any  appropriation  bill  containing  sev- 
eral items  any  item  he  may  object  to.  He  must  approve 
or  reject  all  other  bills  as  a  whole;  but  to  an  appropriation 
bill  containing  several  items  he  may  append  a  statement  of 
the  items  to  which  he  objects,  and  then  that  part  of  the  bill 


THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY.  259 

fails.  He  cannot  cut  down  the  item;  he  cannot  increase  it; 
he  must  object  to  the  whole  item,  or  to  none  of  it.  Thus,  a 
bill  providing  for  the  support  of  the  State  Normal  schools 
and  the  University  will  contain  seven  items,  one  for  each  of 
the  six  Normals  and  one  for  the  University.  The  appropri- 
ation for  the  Normals  may,  in  his.  opinion,  be  about  right, 
but  he  may  consider  that  for  the  University  too  large  by  one- 
half.  But  he  cannot  reduce  that  item  by  one-half;  he  must 
object  to  it  as  a  whole,  or  not  at  all.  If  he  objects  to  it  he 
transmits  his  objection  to  the  Legislature,  if  it  is  in  session, 
and  it  can  recast  the  item  as  it  sees  fit,  but  if  it  is  not  in  ses- 
sion, the  whole  item  fails. 

This  provision  of  the  Missouri  Constitution  which  gives 
the  Governor  the  right  to  object  to  any  item  of  an  appro- 
priation bill  containing  several  items  is  very  different  from 
the  provisions  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  The 
President  has  no  such  power  as  that.  He  must  approve  any 
appropriation  bill  as  a  whole,  or  veto  it  as  a  whole.  From 
no  bill  passed  by  Congress  can  he  strike  out  an  item;  what- 
ever its  character,  he  must  approve  it  as  a  whole  or  veto  it 
as  a  whole. 

214.  Creating  Debts. — The  Constitution  imposes  rigid 
restrictions  on  the  power  of  the  State  to  contract  debts. 
In  only  two  instances  can  a  State  debt  be  now  created.  (1) 
On  the  occurring  of  an  unforeseen  emergency,  or  a  casual 
deficiency  in  the  State  revenue,  the  Legislature,  upon  the  rec- 
ommendation of  the  Governor,  can  contract  a  debt,  by  bonds 
or  otherwise,  not  in  excess  of  $250,000  for  any  one  year,  to 
be  paid  within  two  years  after  it  was  made.  (2)  On  the 
occurring  of  an  unforeseen  emergency  or  a  casual  deficiency 
in  the  revenue,  a  debt  in  excess  of  $250,000  may  be  created 
only  when  two-thirds  of  the  voters  voting  at  an  election  held 
for  that  purpose  authorize  the  making  of  the  debt  and  the  levy- 
ing of  a  tax  sufficient  to  pay  the  debt  within  thirteen  years. 


260  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

The  Capitol  might  burn,  or  there  might  be  a  violent  up- 
rising of  lawless  persons  which  could  only  be  put  down  at 
great  and  unusual  expense.  Either  of  those  things  would  be 
"an  unforeseen  emergency,"  and  to  rebuild  the  Capitol  or 
to  meet  the  expense  of  putting  down  the  uprising  and  restor- 
ing order,  the  General  Assembly,  upon  the  recommendation 
of  the  Governor,  might  authorize  debts  for  any  one  year  to 
the  amount  of  $250,000.  But  if  a  debt  in  excess  of  that  sum 
is  heeded,  either  for  those  purposes  or  any  other,  it  cannot  be 
made  until  after  two-thirds  of  the  voters  at  an  election  not 
only  consent  that  it  be  created,  but  authorize  a  levy  of  taxes 
to  pay  it  within  thirteen  years. 

For  no  other  purpose  and  in  no  other  way  can  a  State 
debt  be  legally  created.  At  the  time  the  present  Constitution 
was  adopted,  the  State  had  debts,  in  the  form  of  bonds,  made 
to  aid  the  building  of  railroads,  and  for  other  purposes,  and 
the  General  Assembly  was  authorized  to  provide  for  the  is- 
suing of  other  bonds  in  renewal  of  those  bonds,  and  that  was 
done.  But  all  the  debts  which  the  State  owed  at  the  time 
the  Constitution  of  1875  was  adopted,  except  those  due  the 
Seminary  Fund  and  the  Public  School  Fund,  which  are  in  the 
the  nature  of  permanent  endowments  of  the  State  University 
and  the  public  schools,  have  now  been  paid,  and  by  an  amend- 
ment to  the  Constitution  made  in  1902  only  the  interest  due 
those  funds  is,  for  the  present,  at  least,  to  be  paid.  Hence, 
a  State  debt  can  now  be  made  only  when  an  unforeseen  emer- 
gency arises,  or  there  is  a  casual  deficiency  in  the  revenue. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  only  once  since  the  adoption  of  the  present 
Constitution  in  1875  has  any  debt  been  authorized,  and  that 
was  in  1911,  when  the  people,  by  a  vote  of  more  than  three  to 
one,  ratified  a  proposition  submitted  to  them  by  the  General 
Assembly,  to  issue  bonds  to  the  amount  of  $3,500,000,  to  be 
sold,  and  the  proceeds  to  be  used  in  building  a  new  capitol, 
the  old  one  having  burned  on  February  5th  of  that  year. 
The  law  under  which  those  bonds  were  issued  required    the 


THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY.  261 

levy  of  a  special  tax  sufficient  to  pay  the  interest  as  it  becomes 
due  and  to  extinguish  the  entire  debt  within  thirteen  years. 

215.  Cash  Basis. — The  meaning  of  the  various  provi- 
sions of  the  Constitution  in  reference  to  appropriations  and  the 
contracting  of  debts  is  that  the  State's  business  shall  be  con- 
ducted on  a  cash  basis;  that  all  salaries  and  all  current  ex- 
penses shall  be  paid  as  they  become  due.  That  means  that  ap- 
propriations should  always  be  kept  within  the  anticipated 
revenues.  But  the  Legislature,  imprudently,  or  because 
of  great  public  need,  or  even  recklessly,  may  make  appropria- 
tions in  excess  of  the  amount  of  money  that  will  come  into  the 
State  Treasury  within  the  next  two  years.  If  that  is  done, 
the  next  Legislature  may  make  appropriations  for  paying  the 
deficiencies,  but  it  is  not  compelled  to  do  so,  and  if  it  refuses 
the  unpaid  persons  who  have  done  work  or  incurred  expense 
for  the  State  have  no  recourse.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  Leg- 
islature has  rarely  refused  to  appropriate  money  to  pay  an 
honest  obligation  arising  out  of  the  acts  of  a  former  one. 

216.  Class  Legislation. — ^The  present  Constitution  pro- 
hibits the  passage  of  special  or  local  laws.  All  laws  must 
apply  alike  to  all  persons  or  subjects  of  the  same  class.  The 
Legislature  cannot  grant  a  special  charter  to  one  of  several 
cities  of  the  same  class;  but  it  is  required  to  pass  laws  by 
which  all  cities  of  the  same  class  may  organize  and  conduct 
their  governments.  Thus,  the  laws  regulating  the  affairs 
of  cities  of  the  fourth  class  apply  to  all  cities  of  that  class.  The 
laws  defining  the  duties  of  the  county  clerk  define  the  duties 
of  all  county  clerks.  The  Legislature  cannot  say  that  cer- 
tain named  children  shall  be  the  heirs  of  a  certain  named  citi- 
zen, but  it  can  declare  that  the  children  or  other  persons  shall 
be  the  heirs  of  all  persons  who  may  die  in  the  future.  It  can- 
not vacate  a  certain  public  road,  but  it  can  by  a  general  law 
prescribe  the  methods  by  which  any  public  road  may  be  va- 
cated. It  cannot  say  that  a  certain  named  railroad  shall 
charge  a  fare  of  three  cents  a  mile  for  all  passengers  traveling 


262  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

on  its  trains;  but  it  can  divide  all  the  railroads  in  the  State  into 
trunk  lines  and  branch  lines,  and  declare  that  the  trunk  roads 
shall  not  charge  fares  in  excess  of  three  cents  a  mile,  and  that 
the  branch  lines  may  charge  designated  higher  fares.  All 
laws  must  apply  alike  to  all  subjects  or  persons  belonging  to 
a  natural  class. 

217.  Laws  on  What  Subjects. — The  General  Assembly 
can  make  laws  on  a  great  many  subjects;  in  fact,  it  can  enact 
any  law  which  it  is  not  by  the  Constitution  forbidden  to   pass. 

It  could  not  enact  a  law  abolishing  the  Supreme  Court 
or  other  courts  created  by  the  Constitution,  for  the  courts 
have  by  the  Constitution  been  made  a  part  of  the  govern- 
ment, just  as  has  the  General  Assembly.  Nor  could  it  enact 
a  law  that  abolishes  the  office  of  Governor,  or  other  chief 
executive  officers,  for  those  officers  have  also  been  created  by 
the  Constitution.  So  the  first  question  that  every  legis- 
lator must  ask  himself  when  he  comes  to  consider  a  proposed 
bill  is,  Is  it  forbidden  by  the  Constitution?  And  if  the  bill 
passes  both  houses,  the  first  question  the  Governor  must  ask 
himself  when  it  comes  before  him  for  approval  is.  Is  it  consti- 
tutional? If  it  is  not,  in  his  opinion,  he  must  veto  it,  for  the 
Governor  takes  the  same  oath  as  does  the  Senator  or  Rep- 
resentative, to  "support  the  Constitution,"  and  if  he  believes 
a  law  is  forbidden  by  the  Constitution,  he  is  bound  by  his  oath 
to  veto  it.  And  if  he  signs  the  bill,  and  it  comes  before  the 
circuit  judge  or  the  Supreme  judge,  in  a  suit  in  which  its 
constitutionality  is  properly  assailed,  he  must  refuse  to  enforce 
it  if  he  believes  it  is  clearly  in  conflict  with  the  Constitution, 
for  he,  too,  is  bound  by  his  oath  to  "support  the  Consti- 
tution." The  next  question  the  legislator  or  the  Gover- 
nor will  ask  himself  is.  Is  it  wise?  Is  it  needed?  But  the 
judge  will  not  ask  that  question.  It  is  not  for  the  courts 
to  say  that  a  law  is  wise  or  needed.  That  belongs  to  the 
law-making  body,  and  to  the  Governor,  who  has  a  veto  power. 
But  the  courts  will  enforce  a  constitutional  law,  however 
unwise  or  silly  the  judge  many  consider  it. 


THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY.  263 

And  so  we  may  say  that  the  General  Assembly  may 
enact  any  law  it  deems  wise  or  needed,  except  such  as  are 
forbidden  by  the  Constitution.  But  however  wise  or  much 
needed,  the  Supreme  Court  will  not  permit  a  legislative  act 
to  be  enforced  if  it  is  of  the  opinion  that  it  is  forbidden  by 
the  Constitution. 

The  Legislature  can  enact  any  law  not  forbidden  by  the 
Constitution.  But  an  executive  officer  can  exercise  no  power 
except  such  as  is  specifically  given  him  by  the  Constitution 
or  the  laws,  and  the  courts  will  never  inquire  whether  a  law 
is  wise  or  unwise.  This  is  a  marked  distinction  between  the 
power  of  the  Legislature  and  the  power  of  an  executive 
officer  and  the  power  of  a  court. 

218.  When  a  Law  Takes  Efifect. — No  law  passed  by 
the  Legislature,  except  the  general  appropriation  act,  ''shall 
take  effect  or  go  into  force  until  ninety  days  after  the  ad- 
journment of  the  session  at  which  it  was  enacted,"  unless  there 
is  attached  to  it  an  emergency  clause,  and  two-thirds  of  all 
the  members  elected  to  each  house  "otherwise  direct;"  in 
which  case,  the  law  will  take  effect  at  once  or  at  any  subse- 
quent time  that  the  Legislature  may  designate. 

219.  Laws  and  Revised  Statutes. — All  the  laws  passed 
at  one  session  are  published  in  one  book  called  the  "Laws" 
of  that  year.  At  the  last  regular  session  of  each  decade,  called 
a  revising  session,  all  the  laws  of  the  State  then  in  force  are 
revised,  collated  and  arranged  under  proper  heads  and  in 
connected  order,  and  published  in  one  or  more  large  vol- 
umes designated  "Revised  Statutes."  The  Revised  Stat- 
ures of  1909  are  three  large  volumes.  They  contain  all  the 
general  laws  passed  by  the  Legislature  at  any  time  prior  to 
such  revision  that  had  not  been  repealed.  In  these  volumes 
the  laws  are  collected  into  chapters  and  articles  and  sections, 
and  the  sections  are  numbered  consecutively  from  the  begin- 
ning to  the  end,  just  as  the  sections  of  this  book  are  num- 


264  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

bered.  Each  chapter  is  given  an  appropriate  heading,  and  then 
the  chapters  are  arranged  in  alphabetical  order  in  each  volume. 

220.  Impeachments. — The  chief  executive  officers  and 
the  judges  of  the  higher  courts  may  be  impeached  for  "high 
crimes  and  misdemeanors,  misconduct,  habits  of  drunken- 
ness, or  oppression  in  office."  An  impeachment  is  a  trial 
instituted  in  the  General  Assembly  for  the  purpose  of  re- 
moving an  important  officer  of  the  State  from  his  office.  The 
House  must  originate  impeachments.  It  draws  up  the  charges 
against  the  officer  and  sends  them  to  the  Senate,  and  the 
Senate  hears  the  evidence  and  determines  whether  or  not 
he  is  guilty  of  the  things  of  which  the  House  charges  him. 
It  takes  two-thirds  of  the  Senators  present  to  convict,  and  a 
conviction  means  the  removal  of  the  officer  from  office  and 
his  disqualification  to  hold  office  thereafter.  When  the  Gov- 
ernor is  on  trial  the  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  pre- 
sides. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  there  has  been  no  impeachment 
trial  in  this  State  since  the  adoption  of  the  present  Constitu- 
tion— so  much  for  the  uniform  upright  conduct  of  our  judges 
and  chief  executive  officers.  Prior  to  1875  four  or  five  cir- 
cuit judges  had  been  tried  by  impeachment,  and  one  con- 
victed and  removed  from  office.  Since  that  time  no  motion 
has  ever  been  made  in  the  House  to  have  any  officer  im- 
peached. 

220a.  Initiative  and  Referendum. — The  people  also 
have  power  to  enact  laws  independently  of  the  General  As- 
sembly. By  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution  adopted 
in  1908  the  people  have  power  to  propose  statutes  and 
amendments  to  the  Constitution,  and  to  enact  or  reject  the 
same  at  the  polls,  and  also  have  power  to  compel  the  submis- 
sion to  the  people,  for  their  approval  or  rejection,  of  certain 
acts  passed  by  the  Legislature. 

The  first  of  these  powers  is  called  the  Initiative.  Five 
per  cent  of  the  legal  voters  in  two-thirds  of  the  Congressional 


THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY.  265 

districts  in  the  State  may  sign  petitions  asking  for  the  en- 
actment of  a  statute  or  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution, 
in  which  is  set  out  the  full  text  of  the  desired  statute  or  amend- 
ment, and  file  them  with  the  Secretary  of  State  four  months 
before  the  next  general  election,  and  at  such  election  the 
statute  or  amendment  is  submitted  to  the  people,  to  be  voted 
on,  and  if  it  is  approved  by  a  majority  of  the  votes  cast  there- 
on it  becomes  a  law. 

The  second  power  is  the  Referendum.  Five  per  cent 
of  the  legal  voters  in  two-thirds  of  the  Congressional  dis- 
tricts may  sign  petitions  asking  that  a  certain  bill  passed 
by  the  Legislature  be  submitted  to  the  people  for  their  ap- 
proval, and  if  such  petitions  are  filed  with  the  Secretary  of 
State  within  ninety  days  after  the  Legislature  adjourns,  then 
the  people  vote  on  the  bill  at  the  next  general  election,  and  if 
a  majority  of  the  votes  cast  thereon  are  for  it,  it  becomes  a 
law,  but  otherwise  it  does  not  become  a  law.  The  Legisla- 
ture may  itself  submit  an  act  passed  by  it  to  the  people,  and 
fix  the  time  of  the  election  at  which  the  act  is  to  be  voted  on ; 
and  of  course  the  Legislature  can  propose  amendments  to  the 
Constitution.  But  laws  on  all  subjects  cannot  be  referred 
to  the  people.  Those  necessary  for  the  immediate  preserva- 
tion of  the  public  peace,  health  or  safety,  and  appropriation 
bills  to  pay  the  current  expenses  of  the  State  government  or 
to  maintain  the  State  institutions  or  to  support  the  public 
schools,  cannot  be  referred  to  the  people. 

The  purpose  of  this  amendment  was  to  restore  to  the 
people  an  expeditious  method  of  enacting  laws  which  the 
General  Assembly  will  not  enact  and  of  nullifying  an  object- 
tionable  law  enacted  by  it. 

No  statute  has  ever  been  proposed  by  initiative  petition. 
By  1916  nine  amendments  to  the  Constitution  had  been  pro- 
posed by  that  method,  and  all  were  rejected  by  the  voters. 
Some  of  them  were  so  unpopular  that  they  carried  down  along 
with  them  others  proposed  by  that  method  or  by  the  Legis- 


266  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

lature.  In  fact,  between  1908  and  1916  thirty-four  amend- 
ments, some  of  them  very  meritorious,  were  submitted  to 
the  voters,  either  by  initiative  petitions  or  by  the  General 
Assembly,  and  all  were  rejected  except  one — the  one  that 
authorized  the  Legislature  to  grant  pensions  to  blind  persons. 
In  1914  four  acts  which  had  been  enacted  by  the  General 
Assembly  were  referred  to  the  voters  by  referendum  petitions 
and  all  were  by  them  made  inoperative.  The  reasons  for 
the  defeat  of  these  measures  have  been  explained  in  Section  192. 

A  modified  form  of  both  the  Initiative  and, Referendum 
has  long  been  known  in  this  State.  Since  1887  the  people  by 
a  properly  signed  petition  have  been  able  to  compel  the  county 
court  to  submit  to  them  a  proposition  to  adopt  the  Local 
Option  Law  in  their  city  or  county;  and  for  a  longer  time  a 
dramshop  license  could  not  be  granted  in  any  county  except 
upon  a  petition  signed  by  a  certain  per  cent  of  the  taxpayers. 
The  present  law  concerning  the  organization  of  those  special 
road  districts  which  are  authorized  to  issue  bonds  and  build 
permanent  roads,  cannot  be  put  into  force  until  a  petition 
signed  by  at  least  fifty  resident  taxpaying  voters  is  presented 
to  the  county  court.  And  likewise  a  petition  is  necessary 
for  the  organization  of  a  drainage  or  levee  district.  The  prin- 
ciple of  the  Initiative  is  contained  in  all  of  these. 

Likewise  has  the  principle  of  the  Referendum,  in  a  modi- 
fied form,  long  been  a  part  of  our  law.  A  school  district  cannot 
issue  bonds  or  incur  a  debt  to  build  a  school  house,  nor 
can  a  city  issue  bonds  for  any  purpose,  without  referring  the 
proposition  to  the  people  for  their  approval;  and  we  have 
seen  in  Section  214,  that,  when  the  General  Assembly  wished 
to  borrow  money  to  build  a  new  Capitol,  it  had  to  submit 
the  proposition  to  the  voters  of  the  State.  The  Legislature 
since  1875  has  had  the  power  to  frame  an  amendment  to  the 
Constitution,  but  to  have  any  validity  it  had  to  be  referred 
to  the  people  and  approved  by  them.  The  principle  of  the 
Referendum  is  embraced  in  all  these. 


THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY.  267 

So  neither  the  Initiative  nor  the  Referendum  is  wholly 
new  to  our  law.  The  amendment  of  1908  was  a  long  step, 
and  whether  it  will  add  to  the  peace  and  strength,  or  the  dis- 
cord and  confusion,  of  society,  depends  on  the  way  it  is  used, 
the  sense  of  justice  of  the  people,  and  their  intelligence.  It 
attempts  in  a  very  large  measure  to  substitute  primary  democ- 
racy for  representative  government,  and  in  actual  experience 
thus  far  almost  nothing  has  been  accomplished  through  it, 
largely  because  of  the  w^ay  it  has  been  used;  and  it  is  likely 
to  continue  to  be  true  that  the  public  welfare  will  not  be  pro- 
moted but  often  impeded,  by  its  employment,  unless  the 
amendment  is  itself  amended  so  as  to  separate  the  elections 
held  under  it  from  the  general  elections  at  which  candidates 
for  office  are  voted  for,  and  so  as  to  limit  to  a  small  number 
the  propositions  that  may  be  voted  for  at  any  one  election. 

Questions  on  Chapter  HI. 

1.  How  is  the  General  Assembly  composed?     (197) 

2.  How    many    representatives?     (198) 

3.  How  and  how  often  is  the  ratio  obtained?     (198) 

4.  How  many  ratios  must  a  county  have  before  it  can  have  two  Rep- 

resentatives?    Before  it  can  have  three?     (198) 

5.  How  many  inhabitants  must  a  county  have  before  it  can  have  two 

Representatives?     (198) 

6.  What  will  be  the  effect  of  this  rule  of  apportionment?     (198) 

7.  What  kind  of  representation  is  representation  in  the  House?     In 

the  Senate?     (198) 

8.  What  body  fixes  Representative  districts?     (198) 

9.  How  many  Senators?     By  whom  elected?     How  elected?     (199) 

10.  Can  a  county  be  partly  in  one  district  and  partly  another?     (199) 

11.  Who  is  the  presiding  officer  in  the  House?     And  of  the  Senate? 

Who  presides  in  their  absence?     (200) 

12.  Qualifications  of  Senators  and  Representatives:     1,  as  to  age? 

2,  as  to  being  a  voter?     3,  as  to  residence?     4,  as  to  being  a  tax- 
payer?    (201) 

13.  What  is  a  pay  of  a  Senator  or  Representative?     (202) 

14.  Can  a  Senator  or  Representative  hold  any  other  office?     (203) 

15.  When  does  the  General  Assembly  meet  in  regular  session?     In 

extra  session?     (205) 

16.  What  subjects  may  be  considered  at  extra  sessions?     (205) 


268  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

17.  At  regular  sessions?     (217) 

18.  What  general  powers  has  each  house?     (206) 

19.  When  may  it  expel  a  member?      (206) 

20.  Can  he  be  twice  expelled  for  the  same  cause?     (206) 

21.  Why  can  he  not?     (171) 

22.  What  must  a  bill  receive  to  become  a  law?     (207) 

23.  Suppose  the  Governor  neither  veto  nor  approve  it?     (207) 

24.  Suppose  the   Legislature  adjourn  within  ten  days  after  a  bill 

reaches  the  Governor?     (207) 

25.  When  must  the  yeas  and  nays  be  called,  and  when  may  they  be? 

(209) 

26.  May  bills  for  raising  revenue  and  appropriation  bills  originate 

in  United  States  Senate?     (210) 

27.  Where  may  they  originate  in  the  General  Assembly?     (210) 

28.  Is  that  the  practice  in  reference  to  appropriation  bills?     (210) 

29.  How  may  public  money  be  paid  out?     (212) 

30.  What  power  has  the  Governor  over  appropriation  bills  contain- 

ing several  items?     (213) 

31.  Does  the  President  have  that  power?     (213) 

32.  For  what  purpose  may  the  State  contract  debts?     (214) 

33.  Give  example.     (214) 

34.  How  is  the  State's  business  to  be  conducted?     (215) 

35.  Can  a  special  or  local  law  be  passed?     (216) 

36.  How  must  all  laws  apply?     (216) 

37.  On  what  subjects  may  the  Legislature  make  laws?     (217) 

38.  Could  it  pass  a  law  abolishing  courts?     (217) 

39.  What  is  the  first  question  that  every  legislator,  the  Governor  and 

every  higher  judge  must  ask  himself?     (217) 

40.  Why  must  they  ask  themselves  that  question?.     (217) 

41.  What  is  the  next  question  the  legislator  or  Governor  will  ask  him- 

self?    (217) 

42.  Will  the  judge  ask  himself  that  question?     Why  not?     (217) 

43.  What  is  a  marked  distinction?     (217) 

44.  When  does  a  law  take  effect?     (218) 

45.  For  what  may  certain  officers  be  impeached?     (220) 

46.  What  is  an  impeachment?     (220) 

47.  Where  must  impeachments  originate  and  where  are  they  tried? 

(220) 

48.  How  many  does  it  take  to  convict?     (220) 

49.  What   important  amendment  to  the  Constitution   was  adopted 

in  1908?     (220a) 

50.  Can  the  people  enact  a  law  independently  of  the  Legislature? 

How?     What  is  that  jfower  called?     (220a) 


THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY. 


269 


51.  Can  the  people  nullify  a  bill  passed  by  the  Legislature?     How? 

What  is  that  power  called?     (220a) 

52.  Has  the  Referendum  ever  been  employed  in  this  State?     Has 

the  Initiative?     (220a) 

53.  Had  a  modified  form  of  the  Initiative  and  Referendum  been  em- 

ployed in  this  State  prior  to  the  amendment  of  1908?  Give 
some  examples  of  such  modified  use  of  the  Initiative.  Of  the 
Referendum.     (220a) 

54.  Will  this  amendment  prove  useful  or  hurtful  to  society?     (220a) 


STATE 

SENATORIAL  DISTRICTS 

or 

MISSOURI 


CASS     I    1 786^297       "^^T.S 
Warrensfcurg  ^S«|daUa,i^ 
82,973     VOHNSON 


20,311 


J^l 


14,283 


MARIES 


82,4171 


Wy  0/29,30,31 

/  ST.  LOUIS 

687,029  32,33,34 


I*      JASPER     I   ^°'Spririgfi°Kf^'^^       WEBSTERhVRIGHT 
89,679  law/       .^Y^^  I    ,  Q_L_ 


NEWTO 
87,186    J 


JmC  DONALD 
I       13,S39 


8 

BARRY 


,DENT    24  '•f^'J 
1  13,245   r' ^ 


^^ 


TEXAS 
21,458 


CHRISTIAN 
15,832 


DOUGLAS 
16,664 


STONE 
11,55' 


J       TANEY  OZAI 


HOWELL 
21,065 


'5,504    21-*Fy^ST00DARD\r^ss.S 
t-J 1  ^^\    87.307  „UTLSIPP|' 


OREGON 
14,681 


Population  by  Counties,  Census  7910.     TOTAL  3,293,335 


Senatorial  Map. — In  order  that  a  clearer  understanding  may  be  had  of  the 
division  of  the  State  into  Senatorial  districts,  a  map  is  here  printed  showing  the 
districts  by  number  as  made  in  1901,  and  showing  also  the  population  of  each 
coimty  according  to  the  census  of  1910.  These  districts  were  not  changed  in  1911, 
nor  since  1901. 


270  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  EXECUTIVE   DEPARTMENT. 

221.  General  Remarks. — Executive  officers  of  the  State 
and  Union  perform  like  duties.  Their  work  pertains  to  the 
same  kind  of  duties.  In  each  case  the  executive  officer  per- 
forms some  work  prescribed  by  law.  But  the  executive 
powers  of  the  State  and  Union  are  very  differently  vested. 
We  have  seen  that  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  says 
that  "the  executive  power  shall  be  vested  in  the  President 
of  the  United  States,"  and  names  no  other  executive  officer. 
All  executive  power  of  the  United  States  government  is 
vested  in  him  or  in  other  officers  under  his  control  and  ap- 
pointed by  him  or  by  other  officers  who  have  themselves 
been  appointed  by  him.  But  our  State  Constitution  says 
that  "the  executive  department  shall  consist  of  a  Governor, 
Lieutenant-Governor,  Secretary  of  State,  State  Auditor,  State 
Treasurer,  Attorney-General  and  Superintendent  of  PubUc 
Schools,"  and  elsewhere  it  provides  that  the  Legislature  may 
create  other  executive  officers  for  the  State,  and  other  execu- 
tive officers  for  the  counties,  others  for  townships  and  others 
for  cities  and  towns,  and  it  prescribes  some  of  the  duties  of 
all  these  officers,  and  then  directs  that  they  shall  perform 
these  duties  and  such  others  as  may  from  time  to  time  be 
prescribed  by  laws  passed  by  the  Legislature. 

Thus  we  see  that  the  Governor  does  not  sustain  the  same 
relation  to  the  State  that  the  President  does  to  the  Union. 
He  sustains  the  same  relation  to  the  Legislature  in  his  veto 
power  that  the  President  does  to  Congress;  but  his  relation 
to  other  executive  officers  is  very  different  from  the  Presi- 
dent's. We  also  see  that  a  State  executive  officer  and  a 
National  executive  officer  are  very  differently  related  to  the 
people.     A  National  executive  officer,  from  the  Secretary  of 


THE  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT.  271 

State  down  to  the  humblest  postmaster,  is  "the  President's 
hand,"  over  whom  he  has  control,  since  he  is  his  representa- 
tive, and  is  often  by  him  appointed  and  can  by  him  be  re- 
moved, and  that  power  Congress  cannot  take  from  him. 
But  the  Governor  has  very  little  control  over  the  chief  ex- 
ecutive officers  of  the  State  and  almost  none  oyer  those  of 
the  counties.  They  are  rarely  appointed  by  him,  but  are 
elected  by  the  people,  and  in  most  cases  he  cannot  remove 
them,  and  has  no  control  over  the  way  they  perform  their 
official  duties  unless  that  power  is  clearly  given  to  him  by  law. 
For  malfeasance  in  office,  or  official  corruption,  he  can  sus- 
pend one  or  two  of  the  State  officers  until  the  charge  is  inves- 
tigated by  the  Legislature  or  by  the  courts,  but  as  a  rule  all 
executive  officers  except  those  appointed  by  him  are  not  an- 
swerable to  him  for  the  way  in  which  ^hey  perform  their 
official  duties. 

222.  State  Officer. — A  State  officer  is  one  who  per- 
forms official  duties  for  the  entire  State,  or  a  large  part  of  it. 
They  are  those  named  in  the  preceding  section,  all  of  whom 
are  elected  by  the  people,  and  certain  other  officers  appointed 
by  the  Governor,  such  as  Public  Service  Commissioners, 
Superintendent  of  Insurance,  Bank  Commissioner,  curators 
of  the  University,  regents  of  the  Normal  schools,  and  boards 
of  managers  of  the  various  penal  and  charity  institutions. 
All  these  officers  in  some  states  are  appointed  by  the  Governor, 
and  he  thereby  -becomes  responsible  to  the  people  for  their 
official  conduct.  But  in  this  State,  the  chief  executive  of- 
ficers are  elected  by  the  people,  and  hence  they  are  directly 
responsible  to  the  people  for  the  way  they  perform,  their  duties. 

223.  The  Governor. — The  Constitution  says  that  "the 
supreme  executive  power  shall  be  vested  in  a  chief  magistrate 
who  shall  be  styled,  'The  Governor  of  the  State  of  Missouri,'  " 
and  requires  that  he  "shall  take  care  that  the  laws  are  faith- 
fully executed,"  but  it  does  not  clearly  say  how  he  is  to  do 


272  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

that,  and  there  are  few  statutes  which  give  him  specific  au- 
thority of  that  kind.  The  Constitution  does  make  him 
"conservator  of  the  peace  throughout  the  State,"  which 
means  that  he  is  not  only  High  Sheriff,  but  something  more 
than  that.  He  is  the  commander-in-chief  of  the  miUtia,  and 
if  a  riot  occurs,  or  an  insurrection,  which  cannot  be  put  down 
by  the  sheriff,  he  can  send-  the  Adjutant-General  with  so 
much  of  the  National  Guard  as  may  be  necessary  to  restore 
order,  and  if  that  is  not  sufficient  he  can  call  out  the  militia, 
that  is,  the  men  of  military  age  in  the  State,  and  require  so 
many  of  them  as  may  be  necessary,  to  aid  the  sheriff  or  Ad- 
jutant-General in  enforcing  the  authority  of  the  courts,  and 
in  putting  down  mobs  and  riots  and  other  lawless  move- 
ments. But  he  has  no  control  over  the  courts  themselves, 
nor  over  prosecuting  attorneys,  nor  over  grand  juries,  nor 
over  any  other  county  officer  except  the  sheriff,  and  then 
only  when  there  is  such  an  unusual  disturbance  that  the 
sheriff  cannot  cope  with  it. 

His  powers  may  be  enumerated  about  as  follows: 

1.  He  can  direct  the  Attorney-General  to  assist  any 
prosecuting  attorney  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties,  and 
therein  is  found  his  greatest  authority  in  times  of  peace  to 
see  that  "the  laws  are  faithfully  executed." 

2.  He  can  call  out  the  militia  "to  execute  the  laws,  sup- 
press insurrections  and  repel  invasions." 

3.  He  can  grant  pardons,  after  conviction,  and  commute 
sentences  to  less  punishment,  and  parole  prisoners  for  good 
behavior. 

4.  He  can  call  the  General  Assembly  in  extra  session, 
and  in  that  way,  again,  he  can  exert  his  influence,  by  message 
and  otherwise,  in  securing  the  enactment  of  new  laws  and  in 
inducing  the  Legislature  to  provide  means  for  faithfully  exe- 
cuting existing  laws,  but  he  cannot  compel  the  Legislature 
to  pass  any  bill  or  vote  on  any  proposition. 

5.  He  can  veto  bills  passed   by  the  Legislature,   and 


THE  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT.  273 

then  they  can  become  laws  only  when  two-thirds  of  the  mem- 
bers elected  to  each  house  vote  to  pass  them  notwithstanding 
his  veto. 

6.  When  a  vacancy  in  a  state  or  district  office  occurs 
he  fills  it  by  appointment,  or  if  it  is  an  office  that  can  be  filled 
only  by  an  election  he  calls  a  special  election,  and  he  fills 
vacancies  in  most  county  offices. 

7.  He  is  vested  with  power  to  appoint  a  number  of  state 
officers,  and  he  likewise  appoints  the  election  commissioners  of 
St.  Louis,  Kansas  City  and  St.  Joseph,  and  the  police  com- 
missioners of  those  cities,  except  the  mayor.  He  appoints 
the  governing  boards  of  all  institutions  ^maintained  by  the 
State,  such  as  the  University,  normal  schools,  reform  schools 
and  hospitals.  And  through  these  appointees,  he  can,  if  he 
desires,  exert  either  a  useful  or  hurtful  influence  on  politics. 

8.  He  appoints  all  notaries  public,  and  issues  commis- 
sions to  all  officers  unless  the  law  designates  some  other  method 
for  commissioning  them. 

9.  To  him  the  county  clerks  and  boards  of  election  com- 
missioners of  St.  Louis  make  return  of  the  number  of  votes 
cast  for  Presidential  electors  of  all  parties,  and  he  casts  up 
and  counts  the  votes,  and  declares  what  ones  have  been  elect- 
ed, and  issues  to  them  certificates  of  their  election. 

224.  Qualifications  and  Salary. — The  Governor  must 
be  thirty-five  years- old  and  must  have  been  a  citizen  of  the 
United  States  for  ten  years  and  a  resident  of  this  State  for 
seven  years  before  his  election.  His  term  of  office  is  four 
years  and  he  cannot  be  elected  twice  in  succession.  He 
receives  a  salary  of  $5,000  per  year  and  lives  in  the  Executive 
Mansion,  provided  and  furnished  by  the  State.  The  State 
pays  all  the  current  expenses  of  his  office,  and  much  of  his 
household    expenses. 

225.  Lieutenant-Governor. — The  presiding  officer  of 
the  Senate  is  the  Lieutenant-Governor.       He  must  have  the 

18 


274  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

same  qualifications  as  to  age  and  residence  as  the .  Governor, 
and  for  his  services  receives  a  salary  of  $1,000  a  year,  and  in 
addition  seven  dollars  for  every  day  he  shall  actually  preside 
in  the  Senate.  He  has  no  vote  in  the  Senate  except  when 
Senators  are  equally  divided.  In  case  of  a  vacancy  in  the 
office  of  Governor,  he  becomes  Governor  for  the  residue  of 
the  term,  and  during  the  absence  of  the  Governor  from  the 
State  he  also  acts  as  Governor.  He  may  resign  or  be  removed 
by  impeachment,  as  may  the  Governor,  but  in  case  of  a  va- 
cancy in  his  office  no  provision  is  made  for  filling  the  vacancy. 

The  Senate  elects  a  President  pro  tempore  from  its  own 
members  to  preside  in  case  of  the  absence,  resignation  or  im- 
peachment of  the  Lieutenant-Governor,  but  this  officer  does 
not  succeed  to  the  office  of  Lieutenant-Governor  in  case  a 
vacancy  occurs  in  that  office.  No  one  does.  If  the  office  of 
Governor  and  Lieutenant-Governor  both  become  vacant  for 
any  reason,  the  President  of  the  Senate  pro  tempore  at  once 
steps  into  the  office  of  Governor  and  holds  it  until  the  va- 
cancy be  filled.  If  the  office  of  Governor,  Lieutenarit-Gov- 
ernor  and  President  of  the  Senate  pro  tempore  should  all  be- 
come vacant,  then  the  Speaker  of  the  House  becomes  Gov- 
ernor, but  he  can  in  no  case  become  Lieutenant-Governor 
or  President  of  the  Senate  pro  tempore. 

226.  Secretary  of  State. — The  Secretary  of  State  is 
the  custodian  of  the  Great  Seal  of  the  State,  which  is  used  to 
authenticate  many  of  the  official  acts  of  the  Governor  and 
of  the  State.  In  his  office  are  kept  all  the  original  laws 
passed  by  the  General  Assembly,  the  publication  and  distri- 
bution of  which  he  superintends.  He  has  authority  to  say 
what  corporations  shall  be  licensed  to  do  business  in  the 
State,  and  to  such  as  he  finds  have  complied  with  the  law 
and  are  undertaking  to  do  a  lawful  business  he  issues  a  cer- 
tificate of  incorporation,  licensing  them  to  carry  on  that 
business;  and  he  requires  all  corporations  to  make  an  annual 
report  to  him,  showing  the  amount  of  their  capital,  how  it  is^ 


THE  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT.  275 

invested,  and  what  taxes  they  have  paid.  When  authorized 
to  do  so  by  the  Governor,  he  issues  commissions  to  all  officers 
and  notaries  public,  and  to  most  elective  officers,  entitling 
them  to  assume  the  duties  of  said  offices.  He  keeps  the 
records  of  all  lands  belonging  to  the  State,  and  when  they  are 
sold  issues  to  the  purchaser  a  patent  signed  by  the  Governor. 
He  also  issues  licenses  to  the  owners  of  automobiles,  permit- 
ting them  to  travel  on  the  highways  of  the  State,  and  sees  to 
it  that  those  owners  who  undertake  to  use  their  automobiles 
without  such  a  license  are  prosecuted.  In  his  office  is  kept  a 
record  of  the  names  of  all  county  and  district  officers  and  of 
the  time  they  entered  upon  their  official  duties. 

To  him  the  county  clerks  and  city  election  commissioners 
make  returns  of  the  number  of  votes  cast  for  the  various  can- 
didates for  state  or  district  offices  at  any  general  election. 
In  the  presence  of  the  Governor  he  counts  the  votes  cast  for 
Senator  and  Representatives  in  Congress,  judges  of  the  Su- 
preme Court,  courts  of  appeals,  and  circuit  courts,  and  State 
Senator,  and  certifies  to  the  Governor  the  result  of  hi§  count, 
and  the  Governor  issues  to  each  of  those  shown  by  the  count 
to  have  been  elected  a  commission,  which  empowers  him  to 
take  charge  of  the  office. 

He  also  counts  the  votes  cast  for  Governor,  Lieutenant- 
Governor,  Secretary  of  State,  State  Auditor,  State  Treasurer, 
Attorney-General  and  Superintendent  of  Public  Schools, 
and  sends  the  result  of  his  count  to  the  Speaker  of  the  House 
immediately  after  its  organization,  and  then  the  House  and 
Senate  in  joint  session  correct  any  mistakes  in  the  count, 
and  declare  who  have  been  elected  to  those  offices. 

As  the  Legislature  meets  on  the  first  Wednesday  after 
the  first  day  of  January,  and  the  terms  of  all  these  last  named 
State  officers  do  not  begin  until  the  second  Monday  of  Jan- 
uary after  their  election,  the  count  of  the  votes  for  the  first 
set  of  officers  above  named  is  made  in  the  presence  of  the 
retiring  Governor,  and  the  count  for  the  second  set  is  re- 


276  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

viewed  by  the  Legislature,  and  thus  the  count  in  all  cases  is 
finally  determined  by  an  impartial  arbiter. 

To  him  also  the  county  clerks  and  board  of  election  com- 
missioners of  St.  Louis  make  return  of  the  number  of  votes 
cast  in  their  respective  counties  or  city  for  candidates  for 
nomination  at  any  State-wide  primary  election  for  state  and 
district  offices,  and  he  aggregates  the  votes  so  returned  to 
him,  and  decides  what  persons  have  been  nominated  by  their 
respective  parties,  and  sees  to  it  that  their  names  are  printed 
on  the  proper  party  tickets  to  be  used  at  the  forthcoming 
general    election. 

227.  State  Auditor. — The  State  Auditor  apportions  to 
each  county  its  share  of  the  state  taxes,  and  settles  with  each 
county  collector  for  the  moneys  coming  into  his  hands  belong- 
ing to  the  State. 

The  law  determines  the  rate  of  taxation  for  state  pur- 
poses; that  is,  how  many  cents  shall  be  paid  on  each  $100  valua- 
tion, and  the  valuation  is  determined  by  the  county  assessors, 
the  county  boards  of  equalization,  and  the  State  Board  of 
Equalization,  and  that  is  done  in  this  way:  The  county 
assessor  (in  some  counties,  the  township  assessors)  fixes  a 
value  upon  each  piece  of  property  in  the  county,  and  then 
the  county  board  of  equalization  determines  whether  that 
value  is  just  and  fair,  and  changes  it  accordingly;  and  the  State 
Board  of  Equalization  assesses  the  value  of  railroads,  street 
railways  and  telegraph  companies,  and  adds  up  the  valu- 
ations made  in  the  various  counties,  and  decreases  or 
increases  the  values  fixed  by  the  county  boards,  so  that  each 
county  may  bear  its  just  share.  Then  the  Auditor  has  a 
basis  for  determining  just  what  share  of  the  state  taxes  each 
county  shall  pay,  for  each  county  must  pay  so  many  cents 
(say  17)  on  each  hundred  dollars  of  aggregate  valuation  of 
all  the  property  therein.  The  county  court  then  levies  that 
tax  against  the  property  in  the  county  according  to  its  valua- 
tion, and  the  county  (or  township)  collector  proceeds  to  col- 


THE  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT.  277 

lect  it,  and  the  money  collected  for  state  purposes  is  sent  to 
the  State  Treasurer  and  a  report  of  the  amount  is  made  to 
the  Auditor.  The  law  levies' an  inheritance  tax  upon  the  es- 
tates of  persons  who  die  without  children  or  other  descendants, 
and  that  tax  is  collected  by  the  county  collectors  through  the 
probate  courts,  and  reports  of  the  amounts  are  made  to  the 
Auditor. 

He  keeps  an  account  of  all  moneys  due  the  State  from  all 
officers  and  from  all  sources. 

The  Auditor  also  issues  warrants  in  payment  of  salaries 
of  state  officers,  judges  of  the  higher  courts,  the  officers  of 
the  24  institutions  supported  by  the  State,  and  to  all  other 
persons  entitled  to  the  State's  moneys.  The  amount  to 
which  the  various  officers  and  institutions  are  entitled  is 
determined  by  appropriation  bills  passed  by  the  Legislature, 
and  those  bills  are  his  authority  for  issuing  the  warrants,  and 
he  cannot  issue  a  warrant  for  any  purpose  or  to  any  person 
except  as  the  appropriation  bills  authorize  him  so  to  do.  Nor 
can  he  issue  a  warrant  until  there  is  sufficient  money  in  the 
State  Treasur>''  with  which  to  pay  it,  duly  appropriated  for 
•that  specific  purpose.  He  also  issues  warrants  in  payment 
of  certain  costs  in  felony  cases  tried  in  the  various  courts  of 
the  State,  and  he  must  take  care  to  see  that  no  fee  or  charge 
of  this  kind  is  paid  except  such  as  is  allowed  by  law  and 
approved  by  the  trial  judge. 

The  Auditor  does  not  have  in  his  custody  any  of  the 
moneys  of  the  State,  but  the  Treasurer  can  pay  out  no  money 
except  on  the  Auditor's  warrants,  and  it  is  the  Auditor's 
duty  to  issue  no  warrant  for  the  payment  of  money  except 
when  he  is  clearly  authorized  by  law  to  do  so. 

The  Auditor  also  appoints  examiners  to  visit  all  state 
institutions  and  most  county  offices,  and  examine  and  audit  the 
accounts  of  their  officers,  and  require  them  to  faithfully  ac- 
count for  all  public  moneys  that  have  come  into  their  hands. 


278  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

228.  The  State  Treasurer  is  the  custodian  of  the  State 
funds.  All  moneys  belonging  to  the  State  are  in  his  keep- 
ing. He  pays  the  salaries  of  state  officers,  of  the  judges  of 
the  Supreme  Court,  circuit  courts  and  courts  of  appeals, 
members  of  the  Legislature,  and  all  the  other  expenses  of  the 
State  on  warrants  drawn  on  him  by  the  Auditor.  He  is  re- 
quired to  give  a  large  bond  for  the  faithful  performance  of 
of  his  duty.  In  order  that  the  State's  money  may  not  be  idle, 
the  Treasurer  deposits  it,  subject  to  be  drawn  out  at  any  time 
by  him,  in  banks,  which  pay  the  State  a  small  rate  of  interest 
for  its  use.  His  term  is  four  years  and  he  cannot  be  elected 
twice  in   succession. 

229.  Attorney-General. — ^The  Attorney  General  is  the 
legal  adviser  of  all  other  state  officers.  He  also  represents 
the  State  in  all  cases  to  which  it  is  a  party  before  the  Supreme 
Court,  and  has  the  authority,  in  the  name  of  the  State,  to 
begin  and  prosecute  all  suits  necessary  to  protect  the  rights 
and  interests  of  the  State.  He  can  by  the  great  writ  of  quo 
warranto  institute  suits  against  public  corporations  which 
exercise  privileges  not  given  them  by  law,  or  in  defiance  of 
law,  and  if  successful  in  those  suits  the  courts  will  punish  such 
corporations  by  heavy  fines  or  by  ousting  them  from  doing 
business  in  the  State.  He  can  also  by  the  same  writ  oust  a 
state  or  county  officer  who  has  not  been  legally  elected  to 
office  or  has  obtained  the  office  by  corrupt  means. 

Owing  to  the  rapid  formation  in  late  years  of  trusts  and 
combinations  in  restraint  of  trade  by  corporations  of  various 
kinds,  his  office  has  become  one  of  the  most  powerful  and  im- 
portant in  the  State,  for  the  duty  largely  falls  to  him  to  set  in 
motion  the  machinery  of  government  for  breaking  up  such 
unlawful  combinations. 

230.  Superintendent  of  Public  Schools. — The  duties 
of  this  officer  are  indicated  by  his  title.  He  is  the  general 
superintendent  of  the  public  school  system.  He  advises 
county  superintendents,  school  boards  and  teachers  as  to  the 


THE  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT.  279 

meaning  of  the  school  law,  and  helps  them  solve  their  finan- 
cial and  other  problems.  He  apportions  among  the  counties 
the  interest  earned  by  the  State  School  Fund  and  the  money- 
appropriated  by  the  General  Assembly  for  the  support  of  the 
public  schools.  He  has  authority  to  classify  the  high  schools 
of  the  State,  into  first,  second  and  third  classes.  The  statute 
prescribes  the  studies  to  be  pursued,  the  number  of  teachers 
and  the  length  of  term  a  high  school  must  have  and  the  num- 
ber of  years  of  high  school  work  it  must  do  in  order  to  be- 
long to  one  of  those  classes,  and  then  he  determines  what 
high  schools  have  measured  up  to  those  requirements,  and 
places  each  in  its  proper  class,  and  the  law  says  that  any 
student  who  has  completed  the  course  of  study  required  of  a 
school  of  that  class  shall  be  given  full  credit  therefor  as  an  en- 
trance requirement  to  any  other  school  supported  by  state 
money.  The  State  Superintendent  can  examine  teachers  and 
grant  them  certificates  authorizing  them  to  teach  in  the  public 
schools.  He  visits  teachers'  associations  and  advises  with 
teachers  and  patrons  as  to  the  best  methods  and  needed  means 
for  improving  the  all-important  work  of  educating  the  masses. 
Either  he  or  his  deputies  visit  and  inspect  rural,  city  and  town 
schools,  and  make  suggestions  concerning  the  methods  of 
instruction,  the  government  of  the  school  and  the  care  of  the 
school  property.  He  prepares  an  annual  report  showing  the 
number  of  teachers  and  pupils  in  the  public  schools  of  the 
State,  the  amount  of  money  paid  for  teachers  and  the  average 
wages  of  each,  the  cost  of  buildings,  and  other  useful  infor- 
mation, and  is  otherwise  required  to  do  what  he  can  to 
elevate  the  standard  of  education  in  the  public  schools. 

231.  Salaries  and  Terms. — All  the  state  officers  here- 
tofore mentioned  in  this  chapter  are  elected  by  the  people 
for  a  term  of  four  years,  and  all  except  the  Governor  and 
Treasurer  may  be  re-elected  as  their  own  successors.  The 
Secretary  of  State,  Auditor,  Treasurer  and  Attorney-General 
receive  a  salary  of  $3,000  a  year  each  for  performing  their 


280  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

duties  as  such  officers,  and  besides  they  and  the  Governor 
•  each  receive  $5  a  day  for  their  services  as  members  of  the 
State  Board  of  EquaUzation,  which  usually  is  in  session  ninety 
days  of  each  year.  In  addition,  all  of  them  occasionally  receive 
compensation  for  special  services  rendered  the  State.  The 
Superintendent  of  Schools  receives  an  annual  salary  of  three 
thousand  dollars,  and  is  allowed  certain  traveling  expenses,  in 
visiting  teachers'  associations  and  in  otherwise  performing 
his  official  duties.  All  these  officers  are  required  to  reside  at 
the  State  capital,  and  are  furnished  offices  by  the  State,  and 
are  provided  with  assistants  paid  by  the  State. 

232.  The  Public  Service  Commission  is  composed  of  five 
commissioners,  appointed  by  the  Governor,  each  for  a  term 
of  six  years.  They  receive  an  annual  salary  of  $5,500.  Its 
business  is  to  compel  railroads,  street  railways,  electric  light 
companies,  gas  plants,  telephone  and  telegraph  companies 
and  other  public  utilities  to  obey  the  laws  and  operate  their 
properties  in  the  interest  of  the  public  and  their  stockholders. 
Within  the  limits  of  the  highest  and  lowest  rates  fixed  by  law, 
it  fixes  the  rates  which  railroads  may  charge  for  carrying 
persons  or  property  from  one  point  to  another  within  the 
State,  and  requires  them  to  furnish  adequate  service  and  safe 
cars,  engines  and  other  facilities.  It  prescribes  the  terms  of 
their  shipment  contracts,  prevents  discrimination  between 
shippers,  and  requires  a  return  of  overcharges.  It  requires 
railroads  and  street  railway  companies  to  keep  a  uniform 
system  of  accounts  showing  their  receipts  and  expenditures, 
and  determines  the  amount  of  stock  and  bonds  they  may  issue, 
and  other  debts  they  may  incur.  It  fixes  the  rates  which 
private  companies  in  any  part  of  the  State  may  charge  for  elec- 
tricity, gas,  water  or  telephones,  and  has  power  to  require  their 
facilities  to  be  adequate  and  safe,  and  the  water  to  be  pure, 
and  has  the  power  to  deny  to  any  new  company  the  right  to 
establish  a  light  or  telephone  plant  or  water  system  in  any 
town  which  already  has  one  of  adequate  facilities  or  financial 


THE  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT.  281 

strength  for  supplying  the  pubHc  needs.  It  is  an  administra- 
tive body  of  extensive  powers.  It  was  designed  to  aid  the 
Legislature,  and  to  supplement  the  decisions  of  the  courts,  in 
compelling  all  public  service  corporations  (1)  to  render  honest 
and  reasonable  service  to  their  customers  and'the  public  whom 
they  agree  to  serve,  and  (2)  to  deal  honestly  with  their  stock- 
holders. It  is  aided  in  its  work  by  numerous  public  account- 
ants, civil  engineers,  electricians  and  other  experts. 

233.  The  Insurance  Department. — The  Superintendent 
of  Insurance  is  appointed  by  the  Governor  for  a  term  of  four 
years,  and  receives  .an  annual  salary  of  $3,000.  He  issues 
licenses  to,  and  has  a  general  supervision  over,  all  insurance 
companies  permitted  to  do  business  in  this  State.  He  has 
authority  to  inspect  their  books  to  ascertain  if  they  are  doing 
an  honest  and  safe  business  and  complying  with  the  laws,  and 
to  revoke  their  licenses  if  they  are  not,  and  it  is  his  special 
duty  to  see  to  it  that  the  insurance  laws  of  the  State  are  en- 
forced. The  agents  or  officers  of  any  company  which  has  not 
been  licensed  by  him  to  do  business  in  this  State,  may,  if  they, 
undertake  to  write  policies,  be  punished  in  the  courts.  Many 
of  the  large  insurance  companies  are  foreign  companies,  that 
is,  corporations  organized  under  the  laws  of  other  states  or 
nations,  and  have  no  offices  in  the  counties  in  which  they  wish 
to  do  business,  and  could  not  be  sued  there  unless  the  law  in 
some  way  aided  the  policy-holder.  To  meet  that  situation 
the  law  requires  every  foreign  insurance  company,  before  it 
is  permitted  to  do  business  in  this  State,  to  agree  in  writing  that 
service  of  summons  on  the  Superintendent  of  Insurance  shall 
be  valid  in  any  suit  on  a  life  or  fire  policy  brought  in  any  county 
in  which  the  policy-holder  resides.  By  this  means,  and 
because  of  the  further  fact  that  a  foreign  company  must  de- 
posit with  the  Superintendent  a  large  sum  of  money  or  bonds 
to  be  used,  if  needed,  in  paying  its  policies,  a  policy-holder 
in~  any  county  has  about  the  same  remedies  against  such  a 
company  as  he  would  have  were  it  a  domestic  company  with 


282  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

its  principal  office  in  his  county.  The  Superintendent  will 
also  investigate  a  complaint  that  an  insurance  company  has 
refused  to  pay  a  policy  clearly  due,  and  if  it  persists  in  evading 
and  delaying  compliance  with  its  policy  contracts,  or  in  ob- 
taining contracts  by  deceit  and  fraud,  he  will  revoke  its  license 
to  do  business  in  this  State.  The  Insurance  Department  is 
maintained  for  the  purpose  of  protecting  policy-holders,  as 
well  as  to  promote  the  welfare  of  honest  companies. 

233a.  The  Bank  Commissioner  is  appointed  by  the 
Governor,  for  a  term  of  four  years,  and  is  paid  an  annual 
salary  of  $3,500.  His  duty  is  to  see  that  the  laws  relating 
to  banks  and  trust  companies  are  faithfully  observed,  and 
that  no  bank  does  an  unsafe  or  unauthorized  business.  He 
is  assisted  by  eight  bank  examiners,  and  at  least  once  each 
year  one  of  them  examines  every  bank  and  trust  company  in 
the  State  (except  national  banks),  and  requires  that  every 
excessive  loan  or  unlawful  investment  be  corrected.  Any  fact 
or  information  an  examiner  may  learn  in  examining  a  bank 
he  must  keep  secret,  and  he  is  not  allowed  to  reveal  the  name 
of  any  person  indebted  to  the  bank  or  make  known  its  pri- 
vate accounts  or  affairs,  except  in  his  reports  to  the  commis- 
sioner or  in  court.  The  purpose  of  the  office,  and  of  thes^ 
examinations  and  these  requirements  for  secrecy,  is  to  pro- 
tect the  interests  of  depositors  and  stockholders,  to  better 
the  condition  of  the  banks  themselves,  and  to  make  sure  that 
every  bank  is  conducted  according  to  safe  and  sound  methods. 

234.  The  Labor  Commissioner  is  appointed  by  the 
Governor,  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate, 
for  a  term  of  four  years,  at  an  annual  salary  of  $2,000.  He 
gathers  statistics  concerning  the  wages  paid  laborers  in  mines, 
on  railroads,  and  in  factories,  and  also  statistics  concerning 
the  resources  and  products  of  the  State,  and  publishes  re- 
ports containing  such  of  these  statistics  as  he  may  deem  of 
interest  to  the  public.  He  also  conducts  a  free  public  em- 
ployment bureau  in  Kansas  City  and  St.  Louis,  for  the  pur- 


THE  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT.  283 

pose  of  receiving  applications  of  persons  seeking  employment, 
and  applications  of  persons  desirous  of  employing  laborers, 
and  assists  laborers  in  obtaining  employment. 

234a.  The  Food  and  Drug  Commissioner,  appointed 
by  the  Governor,  at  an  annual  salary  of  $2,000,  and  assisted 
by  chemists  and  inspectors,  is  charged  with  the  duty  of 
enforcing  the  pure  food  laws,  which  prohibit  any  person  to 
manufacture  or  sell  in  this  State  any  article  of  impure,  un- 
healthful,  adulterated  or  misbranded  food  or  drug.  He  has 
authority^ to  require  every  building  and  place  used  for  the 
manufacture  or  sale  of  any  article  of  food  to  be  kept  scrupu- 
lously clean  and  healthful. 

235.  The  State  Board  of  Equalization. — The  mem- 
bers of  this  board  are  the  Governor,  Secretary  of  State,  Au- 
ditor, Treasurer  and  Attorney-General.  The  board  meets 
once  a  year  and  equalizes  the  tax  assessments  of  the  various 
counties.  It  sometimes  happens  that  property  in  one  county 
is  assessed  at  its  real  value,  while  in  others  it  is  assessed  at 
much  less.  This  is  manifestly  unfair.  Each  county  should 
bear  its  proportionate  share  of  the  taxes  to  be  raised  for  the 
support  of  the  State  government.  But  if  the  assessments 
made  by  the  counties  were  permited  to  stand  some  counties 
would  thereby  relieve  themselves  of  a  part  of  their  share  of 
this  burden.  To  prevent  this  wrong  the  Board  of  Equaliza- 
tion raises  the  assessment  of  some  counties  and  lowers  that 
of  others,  and  each  county  is  bound  by  its  action.  Its  duty 
in  such  case  is  to  eqiialize  and  adjust  the  assessments  made  by 
the  various  counties,  not  to  materially  increase  or  decrease  the 
aggregate  amount  of  those  assessments.  The  State  board 
also  has  power  to  assess  the  properties  of  railroads,  telegraph 
companies,  and  other  public  servdce  corporations. 

236.  National  Guard. — The  commander-in-chief  of  the 
Missouri  National  Guard  is  the  Governor,  and  the  chief 
member  of  his  staff  is  the  Adjutant-General,  who  is  appointed 


284  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

by  him,  and  has  charge  of  the  records  and  rolls.  The  National 
Guard  consists,  of  male  persons  between  the  ages  of  eighteen 
and  forty-five  years,  who  have  voluntarily  enlisted  for  any 
military  duty  that  may  be  required  of  them  by  the  Governor. 
Companies  of  the  National  Guard  are  found  in  various  parts 
of  the  State.  At  proper  intervals  they  are  trained  for  military 
service.  They  can  be  called  into  the  field  by  the  Governor 
to  suppress  insurrection  or  riots  or  mobs  too  powerful  to  be 
suppressed  by  the  local  authorities. 

Under  the  law  all  able-bodied  males  between  the  ages  of 
eighteen  and  forty-five  years  are  liable  to  military  duty,  and 
to  be  enlisted  for  military  service  whenever  the  National 
Guard  is  inadequate  to  enable  the  Governor  to  execute  the 
laws,  except  such  persons  as  have  conscientious  scruples 
against  bearing  arms,  and  these  may  be  excused  when 
summoned  for  duty  by  paying  into  the  military  fund  fifteen 
dollars  per  month.  Other  facts  pertaining  to  the  National 
Guard  may  be  found  in  Section  109. 

237.  Other  State  Boards. — There  are  various  State 
boards  to  look  after  various  interests  in  which  the  public  is 
especially  concerned.     Among  them  are: 

T.  The  Board  of  Health,  whose  duty  it  is  to  establish 
and  enforce  regulations  to  prevent  the  spread  of  infectious 
and  contagious  diseases,  and  for  that  purpose  it  has  very 
extensive  powers.  It  alone  has  power  to  license  physicians 
and  surgeons  to  practice  medicine  or  surgery,  and  at  stated 
times  it  conducts  examinations  to  test  the  qualifications  of 
persons   desiring   such   licenses. 

2.  A  Board  of  Pharmacy,  which  examines  and  licenses 
persons  who  desire  to  become  druggists. 

3.  There  is  also  a  like  board  for  examining  and  licens- 
ing dentists. 

4.  A  board  for  the  examination  of  barbers,  by  which 
all  persons  desiring  to  pursue  the  occupation  of  barber  in 


THE  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT.  285 

cities  of  5,000  inhabitants  or  over  must  be  licensed  before 
they  can  do  so. 

5.  A  State  Board  of  Charities,  whose  duty  it  is  to  ex- 
amine into  the  condition  and  management  of  all  prisons,  jails, 
hospitals,  reformatories,  reform  and  industrial  schools,  or- 
phanages and  all  public  and  private  retreats  which  derive 
their  support  wholy  or  in  part  from  the  State  or  from  any 
county  or  city  in  the  State,  and  make  a  full  report  to  the 
Governor  showing  their  actual  condition. 

All  of  these  boards  are  created  either  for  the  protection 
of  the  general  health  of  the  people,  or  for  the  benefit  of  those 
unfortunate  persons  whose  welfare  should  always  be  of  special 
concern  to  the  State. 

6.  There  is  the  Bureau  of  Mines  and  Mine  Inspection, 
connected  with  which  are  mine  inspectors,  whose  duty  it  is 
to  inspect  coal,  lead  and  zinc  mines  employing  ten  miners  or 
more,  and  enforce  the  laws  requiring  a  sufficient  amount  of 
fresh  air  and  proper  ventilation  in  mines,  that  they  be  safely 
timbered  and  braced,  that  ores  be  honestly  weighed,  and 
that  all  reasonable  precautions  be  taken  to  protect  the  lives 
and  health  of  miners. 

7.  There  is  also  a  Bureau  of  Geology  and  Mines,  whose 
special  duty  is  to  aid  in  the  discovery  and  development  of 
valuable  minerals. 

8.  There  is  a  State  Prison  Board,  consisting  of  three 
members,  into  whose  hands  is  committed  the  management  of 
the  Penitentiary,  the  Missouri  Reformatory,  the  Industrial 
Home  for  Girls  and  the  Industrial  Home  for  Negro  Girls. 
It  also  is  a  board  of  pardons  and  paroles,  and  as  such  hears 
applications  for  clemency  from  persons  convicted  of  crime, 
and  makes  recommendations  to  the  Governor,  who  is  author- 
ized, with  or  without  such  recommendations,  to  grant  pardons 
or  paroles  upon  such  terms  as  he  may  see  fit  to  impose. 

9.  There  is  a  Board  of  Agriculture,  consisting  of  the 
Governor,  Superintendent  of  Public  Schools,  the  dean  of  the 


286  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

Agricultural  College  at  Columbia,  and  one  member  from  each 
Congressional  district  appointed  by  the  Governor  for  a  term 
of  four  years.  The  board  appoints  a  practical  farmer  who  is 
well  versed  in  agricultural  science  as  its  secretary ;  and  an  assist- 
ant secretary  and  treasurer.  It  also  appoints  three  or  more 
lecturers  to  conduct  farmers'  institutes  throughout  the  State, 
and  give  instruction  in  scientific  agriculture  and  information 
as  to  plant  foods,  chemistry  of  the  soil,  dry-weather  or  wet- 
weather  crops,  methods  of  seeding  and  preservation  of  crops, 
and  diseases  of  animals  and  methods  of  preventing  and 
curing  diseases.  It  appoints  a  veterinary  surgeon  and,  with  his 
advice,  numerous  deputies,  to  investigate  the  causes  and  cures 
of  diseases  of  domestic  animals,  and  establish  quarantine 
against  animals  afflicted  with  contagious  and  infectious  dis- 
eases. It  appoints  a  dairy  commissioner,  to  inspect  public 
dairies,  creameries,  butter  and  cheese  factories,  milk  depots 
and  establish  regulations  for  their  operation,  and  enforce 
rules  to  be  observed  in  the  production  of  milk,  cream  or  but- 
ter offered  by  any  of  them  for  sale  to  the  public.  It  appoints 
an  Inspector  of  Apiaries,  or  bee  inspector,  to  aid  in  preventing 
diseases  among  bees  and  in  the  development  of  the  honey  in- 
dustry. The  board  also,  through  its  secretary,  issues  bulletins, 
containing  short  and  easily  understood  instructions  as  to  the 
best  and  most  profitable  methods  of  farming,  stock-raising, 
and  fruit-growing.  It  also  conducts  the  State  Fair  at  Sedalia, 
where  each  year  exhibitions  of  stock,  grains,  fruits,  ores,  farm- 
ing machinery  and  household  utensils  are  made.  Connected 
with  the  board  are  a  dozen  or  more  kindred  or  associate 
organizations,  such  as  the  Corn  Growers'  Association  and 
the  Home  Makers'  Conference  Association. 

10.  There  is  a  Board  of  Horticulture,  to  promote  the 
science  of  fruit  culture  and  to  publish  information  which  may 
be  useful  to  fruit  growers. 

11.  There  is  a  State  Poultry  Association,  to  promote 
the  poultry  industry.     It  gathers  information  as  to  the  best 


THE  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT.  287 

means  of  caring  for  chickens,  turkeys,  ducks,  geese  and  other 
domestic  fowls,  and  pubHshes  this  information  in  the  form 
of  bulletins,  and  holds  institutions  of  instruction  in  different 
sections  of  the  State. 

The  members  of  all  the  boards  so  far  mentioned  are 
appointed  by  the  Governor. 

12.  There  is  also  a  Board  of  Education,  consisting  of 
the  Superintendent  of  Public  Schools,  the  Governor,  the 
Secretary  of  State  and  the  Attorney-General,  to  direct  the 
investment  of  the  Public  School  Fund,  and  the  distribution 
of  the  annual  income  of  any  school  fund,  and  to  look  after  all 
swamp  lands  belonging  to  the  State  and  their  sale. 

13.  There  is  also  a  Board  of  Fund  Commissioners,  con- 
sisting of  the  Governor,  Auditor,  Treasurer  and  Attorney- 
General,  to  direct  the  payment  of  the  State  debt  and  interest 
thereon,  and  the  issue  of  new  bonds  or  certificates  of  indebted- 
ness in  lieu  of  such  bonds,  when  so  directed  by  law,  and  to  see 
that  such  certificates  are  safely  kept. 

238.  Other  Officers. — There  are  also  other  State  Officers, 
appointed  either  by  the  Governor  or  some  one  of  the  boards 
mentioned  in  the  preceding  section.     They  are : 

1.  The  State  Geologist,  whose  duty  it  is  to  make  surveys 
of  mineral  deposits,  and  publish  information  of  the  character 
and  quantity  of  such  mineral  ores. 

2.  The  Supervisor  of  Building  and  Loan  Associations, 
whose  duty  it  is,  by  examination  and  from  reports  made  by 
the  companies,  to  see  that  all  building  and  loan  associations 
in  the  State  conduct  their  business  in  a  safe  way  and  as 
authorized  by  law. 

3.  A  Beer  Inspector,  to  see  that  beers  are  made  of  certain 
substances  and  no  others,  that  they  meet  certain  tests,  and 
collect  fees  for  such  inspection,  and  turn  them  over  to  the 
State  Treasurer. 

4.  A  Game  and  Fish  Commissioner,  assisted  by  one  or 
more  deputies  in  each  Congressional  district,  who  are  em- 


288  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

ployed  in  enforcing  the  laws  prohibiting  the  needless  slaughter 
of  game  and  fish. 

5.  An  Inspector  of  Petroleum,  assisted  by  eight  or  more 
deputies,  to  inspect  coal  oils  and  the  products  of  petroleum, 
by  whatever  name  known,  manufactured,  sold  or  offered 
for  sale  for  illuminating,  heating  or  power  purposes  within 
the  State. 

6.  The  Warehouse  Commissioner,  with  numerous  assist- 
ants in  Kansas  City,  St.  Louis  and  St.  Joseph,  to  license 
public  warehouses  and  elevators,  and  to  inspect,  weigh  and 
grade  all  grain  received  into  any  of  them. 

The  amount  of  fees  received  by  the  Beer  Inspector  for 
inspecting  beer,  and  by  the  Secretary  of  State  from  corpora- 
tions, from  notaries  public  for  their  commissions  and  from 
automobile  owners  and  drivers,  and  by  the  Superintendent  of 
Insurance  for  licensing  insurance  companies  to  do  business 
in  this  State,  etc.,  amount  to  many  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  dollars  each  year,  and  a-dd  that  much  to  the  State  revenue. 

239.  State  Institutions. — There  are  24  institutions 
supported  by  the  State.  They  are  of  four  kinds,  educational, 
penal,  eleemosynary  or  charitable,  and  agricultural. 

1.  The  educational  institutions  are  the  State  Univer- 
sity, at  Columbia;  the  five  Normals,  for  the  education  of 
teachers,  located  at  Kirksville,  Warrensburg,  Cape  Girar- 
deau, Springfield  and  Maryville;  the  School  of  Mines  and 
Metallurgy,  at  Rolla;  and  the  Normal  for  the  education  of 
negroes,  called  Lincoln  Institute,  located  at  Jefferson  City. 

2.  The  eleemosynary  or  charitable  institutions  are  the 
School  for  the  Deaf,  at  Fulton;  the  School  for  the  Blind,  at 
St.  Louis;  four  sanitariums,  or  Hospitals  for  the  Insane,  lo- 
cated at  Fulton,  St.  Joseph,  Nevada  and  Farmington;  the 
Missouri  Sanitarium,  at  Mount  Vernon,  for  the  treatment  of 
consumption  or  tuberculosis  in  its  early  stages;  the  Colony 
for  the  Feeble-Minded,  at  Marshall,  where  feeble-minded 
and  harmless  epileptics  may  receive  humane  care;  the  Con- 


THE  EXECUTIVE   DEPARTMENT.  289 

federate  Home,  at  Higginsville,  where  infirm  and  dependent 
ex-Confederate  soldiers,  their  wives,  widows  and  orphans 
may  be  maintained  and  cared  for*  the  Federal  Soldiers' 
Home,  at  St.  James,  where  discharged  Federal  soldiers,  who 
are  in  indigent  circumstances,  or  are,  because  of  any  disabil- 
ity, unable  to  support  themselves,  and  the  aged  wife  of  any 
such  soldier,  or  any  army  nurse  in  like  circumstances,  may  be 
maintained  and  cared  for;  the  Missouri  Reformatory-,  at 
Boonville,  where  boys  convicted  of  crime,  as  well  as  incor- 
rigible boys,  may  be  sent  and  taught  to  work  and  be  obedient 
to  authority;  the  Industrial  Home  for  Girls,  at.  Chillicothe, 
where  white  girls  convicted  of  crime,  or  incorrigible  girls, 
may  be  restrained  and  taught  useful  work  and  obedience; 
and  the  Home  for  Negro  Girls,  at  Tipton,  where  incorrigible 
negro  girls  may  be  restrained  and  taught  to  work.  The 
Missouri  Reformatory  and  the  Industrial  Home  for  Girls 
were  originally  penal  institutions,  but  the  Legislature,  out 
of  a  humane  desire  to  save  and  reform  boys  and  girls  con- 
victed of  crime  or  criminally  inclined,  has  classed  them  as 
eleemosynary. 

3.  The  penal  institution  is  the  Penitentiary,  at  Jefferson 
City,  where  adult  persons  convicted  of  felonies  may,  accord- 
ing to  the  judgments  of  courts,  be  imprisoned  for  a  term 
of  years. 

4.  The  agricultural  institutions  are  the  State  Fair,  at 
Sedalia,  which  gives  public  exhibitions  of  stock  and  agricul- 
tural products,  and  the  Fruit  Experiment  Station,  at  Moun- 
tain Grove,  for  experimenting  with  the  different  kinds  of 
fruits  and  ascertaining  what  varieties  are  best  adapted  to 
the  soil  and  climate  of  this  State,  and  to  study  the  different 
diseases  and  insects  which  infest  fruits,  and  to  suggest  rem-' 
edies  for  their  extermination. 

All  these  institutions  are  governed  by  boards  appointed 
by  the  Governor.  They  cost  the  State  more  than  two  million 
dollars  each  year.     But  the  civilization  of  a  people  has  no 

19 


290  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

higher  test  than  the  way  in  which  they  care  for  their  unfortu- 
nates; and  these  institutions  for  the  bUnd,  the  deaf,  the  insane, 
the  feeble-minded,  the  worn-out  soldiers,  the  wayward  boys 
and  girls,  are  all  a  standing  glory  to  the  humane  purposes  of  our 
State  government — almost  as  much  so  as  the  University,  the 
Normal  schools,  and  the  other  educational  institutions,  whose 
work  in  training  teachers  and  leaders  for  the  professions  and  in 
almost  every  scientific  industry  or  undertaking  is  of  incal- 
culable value  to  a  great  people. 

240.  General  Powers  of  Executive  Officers, — All  the 
officers  and  boards  discussed  in  this  chapter  are  a  part  of 
the  executive  department  of  the  State  government.  What- 
ever power  they  exercise  must  be  clearly  given  them  by  law, 
and  whatever  duties  they  perform  are  specifically  prescribed 
by  law.  Their  duty  is  to  execute  the  will  of  the  people  as 
that  will  is  expressed  in  laws  passed  by  the  Legislature.  It  is 
not  for  them  to  say  that  the  laws  are  unwise  or  unneeded ;  the 
need  for  the  laws  and  their  wisdom  are  determined  by  the 
Legislature.  Nor  are  they  to  act  blindly  or  heedlessly  in 
performing  the  work  assigned  them,  for  if  the  law  is  of  doubt- 
ful meaning,  it  is  for  the  courts  to  tell  them  what  it  means, 
and  direct  them  how  to  comply  with  it. 

241.  Other  Executive  Officers. — But  they  are  not  aU 
the  executive  officers  of  the  State;  they  are  the  principal  ex- 
ecutive officers  whose  whole  compensation  is  paid  out  of  the 
State  Treasury.  There  are  other  executive  officers  for 
counties,  and  still  others  for  cities  and  towns,  and  their  du- 
ties will  be  explained  in  other  chapters,  but  those  mentioned 
in  this  chapter  perform  duties  for  the  entire  State  or  for  a 
considerable  part  of  it,  just  as  county  executive  officers  per- 
form duties  for  the  whole  county,  and  city  officers  for  the 
whole  or  a  part  of  the  city.  So  we  call  them  State  officers, 
because,  in  their  respective  spheres,  they  act  for  the  whole 
State. 


THE  EXECUTIVE   DEPARTMENT.  291 

Questions  on  Chapter  IV. 

1.  Do  executive  officers  of  the  State  and  Union  perform  Hke  duties? 

(221) 

2.  How  are  the  executive  powers  of  the  Union  vested?     (221) 

3.  Of  whom  does  the  executive  department  of  the  State  consist?  (221) 

4.  Does  the  Governor  sustain  the  same  relation  to  the  State  that  the 

President  does  to  the  Union?     (221) 

5.  Do  State  and  National  executive  officers  sustain  the  same  rela- 

tion to  the  people?     (221) 

6.  Explain    the    difference.     (221) 

7.  What  is  a  State  officer?     (222) 

8.  Name  some  of  them.     (222) 

9.  In  whom  is  the  supreme  executive  power  vested?     (223) 

10.  What  is  he  required  to  do?     (223) 

11.  Do  the  Constitution  or  the  statutes  clearly  say  how  he  is  to  do 

that?     (223) 

12.  What  does  the  Constitution  make  him?     (223) 

13.  What  relation  does  he  sustain  to  the  militia?     (223) 

14.  Has  he  any  control  over  courts?     (223) 

15.  Enumerate  some  of  his  powers.     (223) 

16.  What  qualifications  must  he  possess?     (224) 

17.  What  is  his  salary?     (224) 

18.  What  is  said  of  the  Lieutenant-Governor?     (225) 

19.  In  case  of  a  vacancy  in  his  office,  who  succeeds  to  it?     (225) 

20.  What  are  some  of  the  duties  of  Secretary  of  State?      (226) 

21.  How   are   the   votes   cast  for  Representative,  etc.,  counted  and 

determined?     (226) 

22.  How  those  for  Governor,  etc.?     (226) 

23.  Is   the  count    in   all    cases   finally    determined  by  an  impartial 

arbiter?     (226) 

24.  What  are  some  of  the  duties  of  the  State  Auditor?      (227) 

25.  Describe  how  the  State  taxes  are  assessed,  levied  and  collected. 

(227) 

26.  What  does  the  Auditor  have  to  do  with  warrants?      (227) 

27.  How  is  the  amount  of  money  to  each  determined?     (227) 

28.  When  can  he  not  issue  a  warrant?     (227) 

29.  Who  is  custodian  of  the  vState's  moneys?     (228) 

30.  Name  some  of  his  duties.     (228) 

31.  What  are  the  duties  of  the  Attorney-General?     (229) 

32.  What  can  he  do  by  quo  warranto?     (229) 

33.  Why  has  his  office  become  so  important?     (229) 


292  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OP  MISSOURI. 

34.  Name  some  of  the  duties  of  Superintendent  of  Schools.      (230) 

35.  What  are  the  salaries  and  terms  of  these  various  officers?     (231) 

36.  Discuss  the  powers  and  purpose  of  the  Public  Service  Commission. 

(232). 

37.  What  are  the  duties  of  Superintendent  of  Insurance?     (233) 

38.  Can  any  company  do  business  without  a  license?     (233) 

39.  Discuss  the   Bank   Department.     (233a) 

40.  What  labors  are  performed  by  the  Labor  Commissioner?     (234) 

41.  Discuss  the  Pure  Food  Department.     (234a) 

42.  What  duties  are  performed  by  State  Board  of  Equalization?    (235) 

43.  What  is  said  of  the  National  Guard?     (236) 

44.  Name  some  of  the  other  State  Boards,     (237) 

45.  Name  some  of  the  other  State  officers.     (238) 

46.  Name  the  four  classes  of  State  institutions.     (239) 

47.  What  are  the  educational  institutions?     (239) 

48.  What  are  the  eleemosynary  institutions?     (239) 

49.  What  is  a  high  test  of  the  civilization  of  a  people?     (239) 

50.  What  then  are  these  charitable  institutions?     (239) 

51.  What  are  the  officers  and  boards  mentioned  in  this  chapter?  (240) 

52.  What  powers  may  an  executive  officer  exercise?     (240) 

53.  Are  there  other  executive  officers?     (241) 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  COURTS. 

242,  General  Statement. — The  judicial  department  of 
government  consists  of  the  courts.  The  courts  of  the  State 
are  the  Supreme  Court,  courts  of  appeals,  circuit  courts, 
criminal  courts,  probate  courts,  and  courts  of  justices  of  the 
peace.  The  county  court,  being  largely  an  administrative 
or  executive  body  for  transacting  the  business  of  a  county, 
will  not  be  considered  in  this  chapter,  but  will  be  in  the  chap- 
ter on  "Counties."  The  courts  considered  in  this  chapter 
have  been  established  for  the  enforcement  and  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  law. 


THE  COURTS.  293 

243.  Kinds  of  Law.^— Laws  are  broadly  divided  into 
two  classes,  Criminal  Law  and  Civil  Law.  Civil  Law  is 
again  divided  into  Common  Law  and  Statutory  Law  and 
Equity  Law;  and  Criminal  Law  may  consist  of  the  Common 
Law  or  Statutes  or  both. 

L  The  Common  Law  concerns  such  things  as  ordinary 
promissory  notes,  deeds  to  lands,  and  other  contracts  and  the 
breach  of  such  contracts,  and  wrongs  done  to  one's  property 
or  person.  For  generations  in  America  and  England  certain 
rules  have  been  gradually  agreed  upon  by  all  men  as  being 
right  for  conducting  business.  These  rules  have  been  en- 
forced by  the  courts  until  they  have  become  a  great  system 
of  principles,  and  are  called  the  Common  Law.  This  law  is 
not  found  in  the  acts  passed  by  the  Legislature,  but  in  books 
written  by  able  lawyers  and  in  the  published  opinions  of  the 
highest  courts. 

2.  Statutory  Law  consists  of  laws  passed  by  the  Leg- 
islature and  such  laws  are  called  statutes.  These  sometimes 
supplant  the  Common  Law  principles,  but  the  Common  Law, 
until  replaced  by  statutes,  is  binding  upon  all  men,  because 
the  Common  Law,  until  so  changed,  is  by  our  statutes  de- 
clared to  be  in  force  in  this  State. 

For  the  enforcement  of  the  Common  Law  or  the  Statu- 
toiy  Law  there  are  a  judge  and  a  jury,  and  at  the  trial  the 
points  to  be  decided  are  such  as,  Was  the  contract  made,  and 
what  are  its  terms?  or,  Admitting  the  contract  has  been  made 
and  broken,  what  are  the  damages?  But  the  judge  alone 
tries  a  few  kinds  of  such  cases,  and  in  other  Common  Law 
cases  both  sides  may  mutually  agree  to  waive  a  jury,  but  if 
either  party  demands  a  jury  it  cannot  be  denied  him. 

3.  But  sometimes  the  enforcement  of  a  contract  would 
work  a  wrong.  The  contract  may  have  been  obtained 
through  fraud  or  mistake;  some  kind  of  deceit  or  fraud  by 
one  party  may  have  induced  the  other  to  enter  into  it,  and 
then  justice  and  good  morals  suggest  that  it  ought  to  be  set 


294  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

aside  and  not  enforced  against  the  party  thus  cheated.  It  is 
just  at  this  point  that  Equity  Law  steps  in.  It  was  created 
to  give  reUef  against  the  rigid  exactions  of  the  Common 
Law,  when  the  enforcement  of  that  law  would  work  a 
wrong.  Equity  cases  are  tried  by  a  judge  alone;  no  jury 
assists  him. 

4.  Criminal  Law  relates  to  crimes.  It  usually  con- 
sists of  the  statutes,  or  laws  passed  by  the  Legislature.  Crimes 
are  divided  into  two  classes.  They  are  misdemeanors  and 
felonies.  A  misdemeanor  is  a  lower  grade  of  crime  and  is 
punishable  by  fine  or  imprisonment  in  jail  or  calaboose.  A 
jury  and  a  justice  or  judge  try  a  misdemeanor,  al- 
though a  grand  jury  may  indict  a  person  for  a  misde- 
meanor. A  felony  is  a  higher  grade  of  crime  and  is  punish- 
able by  imprisonment  in  the  penitentiary,  or  death.  Prior 
to  1900  no  one  could  be  tried  for  a  felony  until  he  had  been 
indicted  by  a  grand  jury,  but  now  prosecutions  in  a  felony 
case  may  be  begun  on  an  information  filed  by  the  prosecuting 
attorney,  or  on  an  indictment  presented  by  a  grand  jury.  If 
begun  in  either  way,  the  case  is  tried  by  a  judge  and  a  jury 
of  twelve  men. 

244.  Justices  of  the  Peace. — In  each  municipal  town- 
ship of  each  county  there  is  at  least  one  justice  of  the  peace, 
and  often  more  than  one.  He  is  sometimes  called  a  magis- 
trate and  often  a  squire.  He  is  a  conservator  of  the  peace 
for  his  township.  These  courts  have  been  established  in 
order  that  the  people  may  have  a  court  right  in  their  midst 
in  which  to  settle  their  smaller  disputes,  and  in  which  the 
wheels  of  government  may  be  speedily  set  in  motion  in  case 
a  crime  has  been  committed. 

If  a  constable,  sheriff  or  policeman  sees  a  person  com- 
mitting a  crime,  he  may  arrest  him  on  the  spot,  without  wait- 
ing for  a  warrant;  and  then,  after  his  arrest,  a  complaint  is 
filed  against  him  with  the  justice  before  whom  is  taken, 
and  a  warrant  is  then  issued.     This  is  the  rule  as  to  misde- 


THE  COURTS.  295 

meanors.  But  if  he  has  committed  a  felony  he  may  be 
arrested  before  the  warrant  is  issued,  whether  he  was  seen 
committing  the  crime  or  not.  But  that  is  not  usually  done; 
it  is  done  only  when  his  immediate  arrest  seems  necessary 
to  prevent  his  escape..  Otherwise  he  is  not  arrested  until 
after  the  warrant  is  issued,  unless  he  is  seen  committing  the 
crime. 

If  the  prosecution  is  begun  in  the  circuit  court,  the 
warrant  is  issued  by  the  circuit  clerk,  and  the  arrest  is  made 
by  the  sheriff.  But  usually  the  warrant  is  issued  by  a  jus- 
tice of  the  peace.  He  can  issue  it  only  when  some  one  files 
a  complaint  with  him,  under  oath,  charging  a  certain  person 
with  having  committed  a  specific  crime,  and  then  he  must 
issue  a  warrant  for  that  person's  arrest,  and  that  complaint 
may  be  made  by  a  private  person  or  by  the  prosecuting 
attorney  or  by  an  officer.  If  the  crime  which  the  complaint 
charges  the  accused  person  with  having  committed  is  a 
misdemeanor,  he  may  have  his  trial  at  once  or  in  a  short 
time  by  a  jury  before  the  justice.  But  if  the  crime  charged 
against  him  is  a  felony  punishable  by  imprisonment  in  the 
penitentiary  he  cannot  be  tried  in  the  magistrate's  court,  but 
the  justice  requires  him  to  give  bond  to  appear  for  trial  at 
the  next  term  of  the  circuit  or  criminal  court  of  the  county, 
and  if  he  cannot  give  bond  he  is  committed  to  jail  to  await 
his  trial. 

If  the  complaint  charges  a  felony,  the  justice,  if  the 
accused  desires  it,  gives  him  a  "preliminary  examination," 
not  for  the  purpose  of  determining  his  guilt,  but  to  ascertain 
if  there  is  such  probability  that  he  is  guilty  as  requires  that  he 
be  held  for  trial  in  the  circuit  or  criminal  court,  and  if  so  to 
fix  the  amount  of  his  bond.  If  he  is  charged  with  first-degree 
murder  or  other  capital  offense,  and  the  "proof  is  evident  or 
the  presumption  great"  that  he  has  committed  that  crime,  the 
justice  will  not  admit  him  to  bail,  but  will  commit  him  to  jail; 
but  otherwise,  he  will  fix  the  amount  of  his  bond,  by  which  he 


296  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

and  his  sureties  pledge  themselves  and  their  property  that  he 
will  appear  at  the  next  term  of  court,  and  grant  him  his 
liberty  until  that  time. 

Civil  suits  involving  any  surn  less  than  $250  (in  St.  Louis, 
$350)  may  be  brought  in  a  justice's  court,  and  suits  involving 
less  than  $50  must  be  begun  there.  Suits  to  dispossess  a 
tenant  who  will  not  pay  his  rent,  and  suits  to  dislodge  a  person 
who  has  wrongfully  taken  possession  of  another's  house  or  lands 
(if  the  title  is  not  involved),  may  also  be  brought  in  a  magis- 
trate's court.  And  prosecutions  for  misdemeanors  may  be 
begun  either  in  the  circuit  or  criminal  court  or  the  magis- 
trate's court.  But  an  equity  case  cannot  be  tried  in  a  jus- 
tice's court,  nor  can  the  justice  alone  decide  any  civil  case 
unless  both  sides  agree  that  he  may.  All  cases  tried  in  a 
magistrate's  court  may  be  determined  by  a  jury  of  six  men, 
who  pass  upon  the  law  and  the  evidence  as  they  understand 
them,  without  any  instructions  from  the  justice.  The  law 
is  read  to  them  by  the  lawyers  who  represent  the  different 
sides,  and  as  the  jury  are  liable  to  misconstrue  the  law  where 
it  is  not  plain  and  easily  understood,  only  cases  involving 
plain  and  simple  issues  are  tried  in  magistrate  courts. 

The  finding  of  the  jury  is  called  a  verdict,  which  is  ex- 
pressed in  a  small  piece  of  writing  signed  by  one  of  their  number 
who  has  by  them  been  chosen  foreman,  thus:  "We,  the  jury, 
find  the  defendant  guilty  of  petit  larceny  as  charged,  and  assess 
his  punishment  at  six  months'  imprisonment  in  the  county 
jail.  John  Smith,  foreman;"  or,  "We,  the  jury,  find  for  plain- 
tiff, and  assess  his  damages  at  forty  dollars.  John  Smith, 
foreman." 

If  the  case  is  a  criminal  one  all  the  jury  must  agree  upon 
the  verdict;  if  it  is  a  civil  case,  that  is,  a  suit  involving  a  right 
to  property,  two-thirds  of  the  jury  (or  four  jurors)  may  make 
a  verdict.  If  the  case  is  a  civil  one,  either  party  dissatisfied 
with  the  verdict  may  appeal  to  the  circuit  court,  by  giving 
bond,  and  in  that  court  the  case  is  tried  anew,  just  as  if  it  had 


THE  COURTS.  297 

been  originally  begun  there.  If  the  case  is  a  criminal  one  and 
the  verdict  is  in  favor  of  the  defendant,  there  can  be  no  appeal, 
nor  can  he  ever  be  tried  for  that  crime  again,  for  whenever 
a  verdict  of  "not  guilty"  is  reached  in  any  case  in  any  court 
which  had  power  to  try  it,  that  is  the  end  of  it.  If,  however, 
the  verdict  is  against  the  defendant,  he  may  appeal  to  the 
circuit  or  criminal  court  of  the  county,  and  there  the  case  is 
tried  anew. 

In  all  townships  except  those  in  the  large  cities  the  justice 
is  not  paid  a  salary,  but  is  allowed  fees  which  are  taxed  as 
costs,  and  must  be  paid  as  other  costs  are,  usually  by  the  losing 
party;  and  the  constable  and  jurors  are  paid  in  the  same  way. 
In  the  large  cities  the  justice's  fees  are  taxed  in  the  same  way, 
but  when  paid  are  not  retained  by  him,  but  paid  into  the 
county  or  city  treasury,  and  he  is  paid  a  salary,  which  in 
Kansas  City  is  two  thousand  dollars  a  year  and  in  St.  Louis 
is  twenty-five  hundred. 

245.  Constables. — In  each  township  there  is  a  constable, 
who  is  the  executive  officer  of  the  court  of  the  justice  of  the 
peace.  It  is  his  duty  to  make  arrests  on  warrants  issued  by 
the  justice  if  the  accused  party  can  be  found  in  his  county; 
to  serve  the  summons  on  the  defendant  in  civil  cases ;  to  impanel 
juries  and  summon  witnesses  for  a  trial;  and  after  the  trial 
he  collects  the  amount  of  the  judgment,  or  debt,  from  the 
losing  party  by  seizing  and  publicly  selling  his  property,  if 
he  has  any  property  in  excess  of  what  the  law  says  shall 
not  be  sold  to  pay  his  debts.  If  the  case  is  a  criminal  one, 
and  the  judgment  of  the  justice's  court  is  that  the  accused 
be  lodged  in  jail,  it  is  the  constable's  duty  to  take  him  in 
charge  and  turn  him  over  to  the  jailer.  Thus,  it  is  the  duty 
of  a  constable  to  enforce  the  judgments  of  the  justice's  court, 
and  hence  he  is  the  executive  officer  of  that  court. 

246.  Probate  Courts. — In  each  county  in  the  State 
there  is  one  probate  judge,  whose  court  is  concerned  in  set- 
tling the  estates  of  deceased  persons  and  appointing  guard- 


298  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

ians  and  curators  to  care  for  the  persons  and  manage  the 
estates  of  orphaned  minors  and  lunatics.  In  some  States  this 
court  is  called  the  Orphan's  Court. 

When  one  dies  his  debts  must  be  paid.  All  his  prop- 
erty, except  about  four  hundred  dollar's  worth  for  his  widow 
and  a  part  of  the  family  furniture  and  one  year's  provisions 
for  the  support  of  the  family  and  the  homestead  which  he 
owned  and  in  which  he  lived,  is  liable  for  the  payment  of  his 
debts,  and  his  children  can  have  nothing  until  these  are  paid. 
If  the  person  has  left  no  will,  the  court  appoints  some  one, 
denominated  an  administrator,  to  take  charge  of  the  estate 
and  settle  up  its  debts  and  turn  the  residue  over  to  the  heirs, 
but  for  this  purpose  no  land  can  be  sold  if  the  personal  estate 
is  sufficient  to  pay  the  debts.  If  the  deceased  person  left  a 
will,  it  usually  names  some  one  that  he  desires  to  administer 
his  estate.  Such  person  is  called  an  executor,  and  in  admin- 
istering the  estate  he  must  obey  the  instructions  of  the  will, 
except  that  the  will  cannot  deprive  the  widow  of  her  dower 
or  homestead,  nor  defeat  the  payment  of  the  debts  of  the 
deceased.  If  a  claim  against  the  estate  of  a  deceased  per- 
son is  disputed  by  the  administrator,  the  probate  judge  may 
call  a  jury  to  decide  the  point,  and  from  its  verdict  either 
party  may  appeal  to  the  circuit  court,  where  the  case  is 
tried  again. 

When  the  administrator  or  executor  has  fully  admin- 
istered the  estate,  that  is,  turned  so  much  of  it  into  money  as 
is  sufficient  to  pay  the  debts  and  paid  those  debts,  he  offers 
to  the  court  an  exhibit  of  all  moneys  he  has  received  and  paid 
out.  This  is  called  his  final  settlement,  and  if  approved  by 
the  judge,  he  is  discharged,  and  the  estate  goes  to  the  heirs 
or  legatees.  But  if  the  heirs  are  not  satisfied  with  the  conduct 
of  the  administrator  they  can  appeal  to  the  circuit  court  to 
redress  the  wrong  done. 

247.  Circuit  Courts. — The  circuit  courts  are  the  great 
trial  courts  of  this  State.     In  them  can  be  tried  every  kind 


THE  COURTS.  299 

of  case — civil,  equity,  and,  in  counties  where  there  is  not  a 
separate  criminal  court,  criminal  cases  also.  One  or  more 
sessions  of  the  circuit  court  are  held  in  each  county  each  year. 
These  courts  exercise  a  superintending  control  over  criminal 
courts,  probate  courts,  county  courts,  justices  of  the  peace,  and 
all  other  inferior  courts.  The  State  is  divided  into  thirty-eight 
circuits.  In  each  an  officer,  styled  the  circuit  judge,  is  elected 
for  a  term  of  six  years  to  preside  over  these  courts,  and  in 
some  of  the  circuits  there  is  more  than  one  judge — the  number 
being  increased  by  the  Legislature  as  the  amount  of  litigation 
may  require.  There  are  fourteen  circuit  judges  in  the  City 
of  St.  Louis  (which  is  rated  as  a  county),  two  in  St.  Louis 
County,  ten  in  Jackson  County,  three  in  Buchanan,  two  in 
Jasper  and  two  in  Greene.  All  the  other  circuits  have  only 
one  circuit  judge. 

All  circuit  courts  are  also  what  are  styled  juvenile  courts, 
which  are  in  the  nature  of  public  guardians  of  "neglected  and 
delinquent  children,"  and  by  those  words  are  meant  children 
who  are  homeless,  or  habitually  beg,  or  live  with  vicious 
persons  or  depraved  parents,  or  associate  with  thieves,  or 
visit  immoral  or  gambling  houses,  or  have  committed  a  crime, 
or  are  likely  because  of  idle  and  immoral  habits  to  become 
criminals.  The  circuit  judge  in  counties  having  less  than  fifty 
thousand  inhabitants,  and  one  of  the  circuit  judges  in  the  large 
cities  selected  by  the  other  judges,  inquires  into  the  habits 
and  associations  of  children  of  that  character  brought  before 
him,  and  confines  them  until  they  are  twenty-one  years  of 
age  in  some  reform  school  or  with  some  association  that  will 
teach  them  to  work  and  to  acquire  orderly  habits.  In  his 
work  he  is  assisted  by  a  probation  officer,  and  the  county 
bears  the  expense. 

248.  Criminal  Courts. — In  counties  having  over  40,000 
inhabitants  there  may  be  (but  usually  there  is  not')  a  separate 
court  for  the  trial  of  criminal  cases.  It  is  called  a  criminal 
court  and  is  presided  over  by  a  criminal  judge.     But  in  most 


300 


CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 


counties  such  cases  are  tried  in  the  circuit  court.  There  is 
a  criminal  court  in  Jackson  County,  but  in  St.  Louis  two  of 
the  circuit  judges  are  assigned  to  preside  over  the  criminal 
division  of  the  circuit  court.  There  is  also  a  criminal  court  in 
the  Fifteenth  Judicial  Circuit  composed  of  Saline  and  Lafayette 
counties.  In  all  other  parts  of  the  State  felony  cases  are  tried 
in  the  circuit  court. 


JUDICIAL     CIRCUITS 

OF 

MISSOURI 


MONROE 
IS, 804 


ACKSO 

16 

;  283,522 


^Hannibal 

RALLS 
12,9iy 

lO  X      "^loulilana 

PIKE®\ 


I         Warl 

K^  CASS  i  I 


,     JOHNSON 
Al  'or. 907°' 


PETTIS 

30 

BaliaS 
33,913 


^""^ilCALLAWAY 
30,6331   24,400    llB,604l| 
Ftlton©  I  ' 


12,863  ^^hrCiii8£^^SSt830 


17,03a;('%. 

131 


Citp  of 
I  ST.  LOUIS 

687  ,029 


alOBE  I.  <c  t.CO.,  CHICASO 


'stoddarcI    I    MISSIS 

27,807     I     L^'PH 

butler\22      I..J!i'*'iP 


18,099       1 

Population  by  Counties.  Census  1910     TOTAL  8,293,385 


The  General  Assembly  has  divided  the  State  into  thirty-eight  circuits,  by 
number,  as  shown  by  the  above  map. 

249.  Qualifications  and  Salary. — The  circuit  judge 
must  be  learned  in  the  law,  at  least  thirty  years  of  age,  a 
citizen  of  the  United  States  for  five  years,  and  a  qualified 
voter  of  this  State  for  three  years  next  before  his  election  or 


THE  COURTS.  301 

appointment.  Each  circuit  judge  receives  annually  from  the 
State  $2,000  as  salary.  Besides,  if  his  circuit  embraces  more 
than  one  county,  he  receives  $1,200  for  traveling  and  other 
expenses.  In  St.  Louis  this  salary  is  raised  by  the  city  to 
$5,500,  and  in  Jackson  County  to  $5,000,  and  in  other  large 
counties  it  varies  from  $3,200  to  $4,500.  If  a  vacancy  occurs 
in  the  office  the  Governor  appoints  some  one  to  serve  until 
the  next  regular  election,  when  the  people  elect  a  judge  to 
fill  out  the  unexpired  part  of  the  term. 

250.  Assistants. — In  each  county  there  is  a  circuit 
clerk  and  a  sheriff,  to  assist  the  judge  in  holding  court.  And 
at  least  once  a  year  there  is  a  grand  jury  of  twelve  men  to 
investigate  charges  and  present  indictments  against  persons 
they  may  believe  guilty  of  crime;  and  there  is  a  petit  jury  to 
hear  the  evidence  and  render  verdicts  in  both  civil  and  crim- 
inal cases,  and  a  prosecuting  attorney  to  prosecute  violators 
of  the  law.  The  judge  is  also  assisted  by  members  of  the 
bar,  or  licensed  lawyers,  who  represent  litigants  and  present 
to  the  court  the  causes  they  wish  determined. 

251.  The  Grand  Jury. — The  grand  jury  consists  of 
twelve  men  and  is  chosen  by  the  county  court  or  by  the 
sheriff,  as  the  judge  of  the  circuit  may  order,  and  as  nearly  as 
possible  jurors  are  taken  from  each  township  in  the  county, 
the  number  taken  from  each  depending  on  the  number  of  its 
inhabitants  as  compared  to  that  of  the  whole  county.  It  is 
a  secret  body  and  all  of  its  members  are  swqrn  never  to  di- 
vulge any  of  its  proceedings.  Nine  of  its  members  can  find 
a  "true  bill."  Its  duty  is  to  investigate,  "without  hatred, 
malice,  fear,  favor,  or  affection,"  any  crime  that  has  been 
committed  in  the  county,  and  for  this  purpose  it  can  send 
for  witnesses  in  any  part  of  the  State. 

Prior  to  the  amendment  of  the  Constitution  of  1900,  a 
grand  jury  was  a  necessary  part  of  every  regular  term  of  a 
criminal  or  circuit  court,  and  no  person  accused  of  a  felony 
could  be  prosecuted  except  on  an  indictment  found  by  the 


302  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OP  MISSOURI. 

grand  jury,  but  by  that  amendment  no  grand  jury  can  now 
convene  except  when  ordered  by  the  judge,  but  he  is  required 
to  convene  it  at  least  once  each  year.  And  at  the  same  time 
it  was  provided  that  prosecutions  of  felonies  might  be  begun- 
by  an  information  filed  by  the  prosecuting  attorney,  as  well 
as  by  an  indictment  found  by  a  grand  jury.  This  amend- 
ment, therefore,  renders  a  grand  jury  of  less  importance  in 
the  punishment  of  criminals,  but  very  much  increases  the 
responsibilities  of  the  prosecuting  attorney.  The  enforce- 
ment of  criminal  laws  is  by  it  made  largely  dependent  upon 
him.  He  can  file  an  information  against  whom  he  pleases, 
prosecute  or  dismiss  any  criminal  case  according  to  his  own 
judgment,  and  no  one  can  compel  him  to  do  otherwise.  This 
amendment  has  made  him  the  most  important  officer  in  the 
county,  and  puts  upon  the  people  the  duty  of  selecting  the 
best  man  to  be  had  for  that  office. 

252.  Petit  Jury. — The  petit  jury  is  the  trial  jury.  It 
consists  of  twelve  men,  who  are  required  to  be  residents  of 
the  county,  sober  and  intelligent,  of  good  reputation,  over 
twenty-one  years  of  age,  and  able  to  read  and.write  the  English 
language.  Ministers,  lawyers,  physicians,  druggists,  teachers, 
postmasters,  officers,  all  persons  over  sixty-five  years  of  age 
and  many  other  persons  engaged  in  special  occupations  are 
not  compelled  to  be  jurors.  The  jurors  are  chovsen  from  a 
panel  of  impartial  men.  A  regular  panel  of  twenty-four 
men  is  selected  for  each  term  of  the  circuit  court  by  the 
county  court  from  the  various  townships  of  the  county.  Out 
of  this  panel  a  jury  is  chosen  for  the  trial  of  most  cases  tried 
at  the  next  term  of  the  circuit  court.  If  the  case  is  a  criminal 
one,  and  any  of  them  are  absent,  the  sheriff  must  fill  their 
places  from  bystanders  or  such  persons  as  he  may  quickly 
summon.  Then  they  are  examined  for  the  purpose  of  ascer- 
taining if  they  can  give  the  accused  a  fair  and  impartial 
trial,  and  if  the  examination  shows  that  any  of  them  cannot 
they  are  excused  and  other  men  who  will  are  substituted  in 


THE  COURTS.  303 

their  places.  Twenty-four  impartial  men  having  been  ob- 
tained, a  list  of  their  names  is  made  and  from  that  list  the 
prosecuting  attorney  strikes  off  four  and  the  defendant  eight, 
thus  leaving  twelve  as  the  trial  jury.  If  the  case  is  a  civil 
action,  eighteen  impartial  men  are  choson  from  the  panel  of 
twenty-four,  a  list  of  their  names  is  made,  and  each  side 
strikes  off  three.  In  this  way  the  trial  jury  of  twelve  men 
is  selected  for  the  trial  of  civil  cases  and  most  criminal  cases 
in  all  parts  of  the  State,  except  in  those  counties  having  more 
than  sixty  thousand  inhabitants. 

If  the  case  is  a  criminal  one,  and  the  accused  is  charged 
with  first  degree  murder  or  other  crime  punishable  by  im- 
prisonment for  life,  the  panel  will  consist  of  forty-seven 
men  in  counties  having  one  hundred  thousand  inhabitants, 
and  of  forty  in  counties  having  a  less  population.  The 
county  court  has  nothing  to  do  with  selecting  that  panel, 
but  it  is  summoned  by  the  sheriff  upon  an  order  by  the  trial 
judge.  He  orders  the  sheriff  to  summon  fifty  or  sixty  or  seven- 
ty men — such  a  number  as  he  deems  sufficient  to  get  a  full 
panel  from.  The  men  thus  summoned  are  called. the  venire 
(pronounced  va-ni-re,  a  Latin  word  meaning,  to  come). 
From  them  the  panel  is  chosen,  and  from  the  panel  the  jury 
to  try  the  case  is  chosen.  If  the  panel  consists  of  forty- 
seven  men  the  prosecuting  attorney  strikes  off  the  names  of 
fifteen  from  the  list  and  the  defendant  twenty;  if  the  panel 
consists  of  forty  men,  the  prosecuting  attorney  strikes  off 
eight  names,  and  the  defendant  twenty — thus,  in  either  case 
the  names  of  twelve  men  remain,  and  they  constitute  the 
trial  jury. 

In  the  City  of  St.  Louis  the  panel  is  selected  by  a  jury 
commissioner,  and  in  Jackson,  Buchanan,  Jasper  and  St. 
Louis  counties  the  judges  of  the  circuit  and  criminal  courts 
constitute  a  jury  commission  and  they  select  the  panel.  In 
these  counties  there  will  be  more  than  one  panel  of  jurors, 
because  two  or  more  judges  will  be  holding  court  at  the  same 


304  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

time.  In  them  a  list  of  all  persons  in  the  city  or  county  quali- 
fied to  be  jurors,  except  those  exempted  or  excused  by  the  law 
from  jury  service,  is  made  about  once  in  two  years,  and  then 
all  the  names  on  the  list  are  written  on  separate  pieces  of 
paper  of  uniform  size  and  color,  one  on  each  card,  and  all  the 
cards  are  placed  in  a  wheel  or  box  and  thoroughly  mixed, 
and  then  an  officer,  in  the  presence  of  the  commissioners 
and  without  looking  at  the  cards,  draws  out  such  a  number 
as  the  judges  have  ordered,  which  will  probably  be  fifty,  and 
possibly  a  hundred  or  more,  and  a  list  is  made  of  the  names 
on  the  cards  so  drawn,  and  a  summons  issued  to  each  man 
whose  name  is  on  the  list  to  appear  at  court  for  at  least  one 
week's  service  as  a  juror.  W^hen  a  case  is  ready  for  trial,  a 
panel,  of  twenty-four  if  a  criminal  case,  and  of  eighteen  if 
a  civil  case,  is  made  up  from  the  first  names  on  the  list.  The 
members  of  the  panel  are  examined  for  the  purpose  of  ascer- 
taining if  they  are  qualified  to  sit  as  jurors  in  the  case — that 
is,  they  are  asked  if  they  have  talked  with  the  witnesses 
in  the  case,  if  they  are  related  to  the  plaintiff  or  defendant, 
if  they  know  any  reason  why  they  cannot  give  each  side  a 
fair  trial  and  a  true  verdict  render,  if  in  making  their  verdict 
they  will  be  guided  by  the  testimony  of  the  witnesses  and  the 
written  instructions  of  the  judge,  and  numerous  other  questions 
touching  their  ability  to  give  each  side  a  fair  and  impartial 
trial — and  if  any  of  them  are  found  to  be  disqualified,  or  are 
entitled  to  be  excused  on  account  of  sickness  or  for  some  other 
valid  reason,  other  men  whose  names  are  next  on  the  list  are 
substituted,  and  they  in  turn  are  examined,  ahd  thus  the  matter 
of  selecting  a  jury  proceeds  until  a  full  panel  of  impartial 
jurors  is  obtained,  and  then  from  the  panel  of  twenty-four  the 
prosecuting  attorney  strikes  off  the  names  of  four  and  the 
defendant  the  names  of  eight,  and  from  a  panel  of  eighteen, 
each  side  strikes  off  three  names,  leaving,  in  either  case,  the 
names  of  twelve  persons,  who  constitute  the  trial  jury.  When 
a  case  is  called  in  another  division  of  the  court,  a  panel  is  made 


THE  COURTS.  305 

up  in  the  same  way,  beginning  with  the  names  of  those  men 
on  the  Hst  who  have  not  already  been  impaneled  for  jury 
service  in  some  other  case. 

252a.  Challenging  the  Jury. — ^Jury  challenges  are  of  two 
kinds — a  challenge  for  cause  and  a  peremptory  challenge. 
A  person  who  is  closely  related  to  plaintiff  or  defendant,  or 
has  already  formed  or  expressed  an  opinion  as  to  the  merits 
of  the  case  and  is  unwilling  or  unable  to  set  that  opinion 
aside  and  make  up  his  verdict  according  to  the  evidence  pro- 
duced at  the  trial,  or  knows  such  facts  as  would  make  him  a 
witness,  isby  the  law  disqualified  to  be  a  juror;  and  if  in  the 
examination  of  the  panel  it  is  shown  that  any  member  of  it 
is  disqualified  for  these  or  other  valid  reasons,  either  side 
can  challenge  him  for  cause,  assigning  the  reason  as  the 
ground  of  the  challenge,  and  if  the  judge  believes  the  cause 
exists  he  will  require  him  to  stand  aside,  and  another  per- 
son will  be  substituted  in  his  stead;  but  if  the  judge  finds  the 
cause  does  not  exist,  he  retains  him  on  the  panel.  A  chal- 
lenge for  cause,  then,  is  based  on  a  disqualification  that  the 
law  makes. 

A  peremptory  challenge  is  the  right  which  the  law  gives 
each  side  to  strike  a  certain  number  of  names  from  the  panel 
or  list  of  men  whom  the  judge,  after  the  examinations,  has 
found  to  be  qualified  to  sit  as  jurors  in  the  case.  In  a  civil 
case  each  side  is  entitled  to  three  peremptory  challenges; 
in  a  criminal  case  the  defendant  is  entitled  to  more  peremptory 
challenges  than  the  State — usually  about  twice  as  many.  The 
attorney  for  neither  side  is  required  to  give  a  reason  for  his 
peremptory  challenges ;  it  is  a  right  which  the  law  gives.  There 
may  be  reasons  why  a  member  of  the  panel  will  not  render 
an  impartial  verdict,  which  his  examination  has  not  revealed. 
He  may  hate  the  plaintiff  or  defendant,  and  yet  deny  that  he 
does;  he  may  be  a  man  of  narrow  and  unfair  mind;  he  may  be 
known  by  one  of  the  parties,  or  his  attorney,  to  be  personally 
dishonest.    Neither  side  should  be  required  to  charge  him  to  be 

20 


306  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

such  a  man,  so  long  as  there  are  numerous  men  in  the  county 
who  are  fair,  capable  and  impartial.  So  each  side  is  given  the 
right  to  strike  from  the  panel,  without  giving  any  reason 
therefor,  such  a  number  of  names  as  the  lawmaker  deems 
necessary  to  insure  a  thoroughly  fair  jury. 

252b.  Number  That  May  Make  Verdict. — Formerly  it 
was  necessary  for  all  the  jury  to  agree  to  the  verdict  in  any 
kind  of  case;  now,  if  three-fourths  of  them  agree  upon  a  ver- 
dict in  a  civil  case  tried  in  the  circuit  court,  and  two-thirds 
agree  upon  a  verdict  in  a  civil  case  tried  before  a  justice  of 
the  peace,  that  verdict  is  as  binding  as  if  every  juror  had  agreed 
to  it.  But  in  criminal  cases,  it  is  still  necessary  that  every 
member  of  the  jury  agree  to  the  verdict;  in  such  case,  it  must 
be  the  unaminous  verdict  of  all.  If  the  verdict  is  that  the 
defendant  is  "not  guilty"  that  is  the  end  of  the  case;  it  cannot 
be  appealed,  nor  can  the  defendant  ever  again  be  put  on  trial 
for  the  same  offense. 

253.  Trial  By  Jury.^ — "Trial  by  a  jury  of  one's  peers" 
has  been  the  pride  of  the  English-speaking  race  for  seven 
hundred  years;  and  its  hold  upon  the  people,  as  the  fairest 
and  best  method  of  administering  the  law,  has  strengthened 
with  the  centuries.  One  of  its  chief  merits  is  that  it  puts 
upon  the  people  of  the  community  the  duty  and  responsibility 
for  settling  disputes  and  punishing  crime.  Jury  verdicts 
sometimes  indicate  a  low  moral  sense  in  the  community, 
and  are  a  disappointment  to  lovers  of  good  order  and  fairness, 
but  that  is  true  of  every  other  system  of  jurisprudence  ever 
devised.  The  remedy  in  such  cases  is  for  the  public  to  hold 
in  scorn  the  juror  who  has  failed  to  do  his  sworn  duty,  and  to 
use  the  slow  process  of  education  in  elevating  the  moral 
sense  of  the  people  until  they  are  fixed  in  their  determination 
that  jurors  must  always  be  just,  fair,  honest,  and  brave  to 
do  the  right. 

254.  A  Civil  Trial.— A  trial,  as  defined  in  the  statute, 
"is  the  judicial  examination  of  the  issues  between  the  parties. 


THE  COURTS.  307 

whether  they  be  issues  of  law  or  of  fact."  That  is  a  correct 
definition,  but  it  is  not  for  us  an  easy  one.  It  will  be  better 
understood  if  it  is  remembered  that  the  "issues"  are  the  points 
in  dispute,  and  that  the  points  about  which  the  parties  dis- 
agree may  be  the  facts  or  they  may  be  the  law,  and  that  a 
"judicial  examination"  means  a  hearing  before  a  judge,  or  a 
judge  and  jury,  by  whom  the  points  in  dispute  are  to  be 
decided.  The  party  bringing  the  suit  is  styled  the  plaintiff, 
and  the  party  against  whom  it  is  brought  the  defendant. 
The  first  step  in  a  civil  case  is  the  filing  with  the  circuit 
clerk  of  a  paper  called  the  petition,  w^hich  sets  forth  the 
plaintiff's  claim  or  cause  of  action.  Then  the  clerk  issues  a 
summons  to  the  defendant  to  come  into  court  and  make  de- 
fense. A  copy  of  this  summons  is  delivered  to  the  defend- 
ant by  the  sheriff.  He  appears  by  his  attorney  and  files  a 
paper  of  his  own,  called  an  answer  to  plaintiff's  petition. 
Then  a  jury  is  impaneled,  if  it  is  purely  a  law  case  and 
either  party  demands  a  jury.  The  plaintiff  first  introduces 
witnesses  to  support  his  claim  and  then  the  defendant  wit- 
nesses to  uphold  his  side.  Then  the  judge  instructs  the  jury 
as  to  what  is  the  law  governing  the  points  in  dispute,  the 
lawyers  make  arguments  for  their  respective  clients,  the  jury 
retire  and  make  up  their  verdict,  and  this  is  formally 
entered  in  the  records  of  the  court,  and  is  made  the  basis  of 
the  judgment,  which  is  the  final  determination  of  the  rights 
of  the  parties  to  the  action.  After  this  is  entered  on 
the  records  of  the  court,  an  execution,  or  wTitten  order,  is 
issued,  directed  to  the  sheriff,  commanding  him  to  find,  if 
possible,  enough  of  the  property  of  the  losing  party  to  pay 
the  judgment.  The  sheriff  seizes  such  property,  if  it  is  such 
as  can  be  seized  for  debt,  sells  it  at  public  auction,  and  turns 
the  proceeds  over  to  the  party  who  was  successful  at  the 
trial.  If  it  is  an  equity  cause  the  proceedings  are  exactly 
the  same,  except  the  cause  is  submitted  to  the  judge  alone, 
instead  of  to  the  jury. 


308  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OP  MISSOURI. 

255.  A  Criminal  Trial. — In  a  criminal  case  the  plain- 
tiff is  the  State  and  its  lawyer  is  the  prosecuting  attorney, 
or,  in  St.  Louis,  the  circuit  attorney.  The  first  paper  filed 
in  such  a  case  is  an  indictment  presented  by  the  grand  jury, 
or  an  information  filed  by  the  prosecuting  or  circuit  attorney. 
When  either  is  filed,  the  clerk  issues  a  summons  to  the  sheriff 
to  arrest  the  accused,  unless  he  has  previously  been 
arrested.  If  this  is,  or  has  been  done,  the  prisoner  is 
brought  into  court,  a  jury  sworn  to  try  the  cause,  the  indict- 
ment read,  witnesses  are  introduced  by  the  prosecuting 
attorney  to  show  that  the  indictment  is  true,  and  by  the 
defendant's  attorney  to  show  that  it  is  not  true ;  the  court 
instructs  the  jury,  the  lawyers  make  their  arguments,  and 
the  jury  retire  and  either  find  the  defendant  "not  guilty"  or 
"guilty"  and  assess  his  punishment.  If  the  verdict  is  "guilty" 
he  is  sentenced  by  the  judge,  and  the  sheriff  takes  him  in 
custody  and  sees  that  the  sentence  of  the  court  is  carried  out. 

In  the  United  States  courts  the  jury  do  not  fix  the  punish- 
ments of  persons  they  find  guilty  of  crimes,  but  that  is  done  by 
the  judge.  In  the  State  courts,  the  jury  are  required,  by  their 
verdict,  to  assess  the  punishment  in  all  cases  submitted  to 
them,  but  if  they  find  the  defendant  guilty  and  fail  to  agree 
upon  the  punishment  the  judge  fixes  it.  In  no  case  can  they 
assess  the  punishment  at  death,  but  for  murder  in  the  first 
or  second  degree,  treason,  robbing  a  railroad  train  and  one 
other  crime  they  may  fix  it  at  life  imprisonment. 

256.  Instructions  to  the  jury  in  State  courts  are  al- 
ways written.  In  criminal  cases  tried  in  the  United  States 
courts  they  are  given  to  them  by  the  judge  in  an  oral  charge. 
In  either  case,  they  embrace  the  law  by  which  the  jury  are 
to  be  guided  in  making  up  their  verdict.  It  is  the  province 
of  the  judge  to  tell  the  jury  what  is  the  law  applicable  to  the 
C£ise,  and  every  juror  must  take  an  oath  before  he  is  per- 
mitted to  become  a  juror  that  he  will  decide  the  case  accord- 
ing to  the  law  as  thus  declared  to  him  in  the  instructions.     He 


THE  COURTS.  309 

cannot  be  true  to  his  oath  and  do  otherwise.  The  court 
tells  the  jury  that,  if  they  find  from  the  evidence  certain  facts 
to  exist,  their  verdict  must  be  for  plaintiff;  and  if  they 
find  from  the  evidence  certain  other  facts  to  be  true,  their 
verdict  must  be  for  defendant.  In  so  charging  the  jury 
the  court  necessarily  tells  them  what  is  the  law  by  which 
they  are  to  be  guided.  This  is  the  rule  in  all  cases  tried  in 
the  circuit  or  criminal  courts;  but  in  the  courts  of  justices  of 
the  peace  there  are  no  instructions,  and  the  jury  there  must 
ascertain  for  themselves  what  is  the  law  applicable  to  the 
case,  and  this  is  usually  read  to  them  from  law  books. 

257.  Appeals. — The  decision  reached  in  a  trial  court 
is  called  a  judgment.  That  judgment,  if  not  appealed  from, 
is  binding  on  the  whole  world  and  can  never  be  set  aside 
unless  fraud  was  committed  in  the  very  act  of  procuring  it. 
It  is  the  end  of  the  suit.  But  cases  tried  in  the  circuit  court 
or  criminal  court  may  be  appealed.  If  the  case  involves 
a  misdemeanor  or  an  amount  of  money  less  than  $7,500, 
the  appeal  is  to  some  one  of  the  court  of  appeals.  If  the 
case  involves  a  felony,  or  title  to  land,  or  an  amount  of  money 
larger  than  $7,500,  or  a  construction  of  the  Constitution 
or  of  the  revenue  laws,  or  title  to  office,  or  if  a  county  is 
a  party  to  the  suit,  the  appeal  is  to  the  Supreme  Court. 

258.  The  Court  of  Appeals. — These  are  the  St.  Louis 
Court  of  Appeals,  the  Kansas  City  Court  of  Appeals,  and  the 
Springfield  Court  of  Appeals.  In  the  early  history  of  the 
State  the  only  appellate  court  was  the  Supreme  Court.  But  as 
the  population  and  industries  greatly  increased  so  many  cases 
were  appealed  to  the  Supreme  Court  that  its  work  became 
more  than  it  could  perform.  These  courts,  therefore,  were 
established  to  finally  decide  less  important  cases  on  appeal. 
Each  has  three  judges  who  hold  office  for  a  term  of  twelve 
years.  Each  judge  receives  a  salary  of  $6,000  per  year. 
The  three  courts  together  embrace  the  whole  State.    Decisions 


310  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

by  them  must  conform  to  prior  decisions  on  the  same  subject 
by  the  Supreme  Court. 

259.  The  Supreme  Court. — This  is  the  highest  State 
court  in  Missouri.  It  is  composed  of  seven  judges,  each  of 
whom  is  elected  for  ten  years,  and  each  receives  an  annual 
compensation  of  $7,500.  For  the  purpose  of  convenience  and 
more  expeditious  work,  the  court  is  divided  into  two  divi- 
sions. Division  One  and  Division  Two.  Division  One  has 
four  judges,  and  considers  only  civil  cases;  Division  Two 
has  three  judges  and  reviews  all  kinds  of  cases,  but  especially 
criminal  cases.  If  the  judges  of  either  division  disagree, 
the  case  may  be  sent  to  the  Court  in  Banc,  which  consists  of 
all  the  judges.  The  Supreme  Court  exercises  a  general  super- 
intending control  over  all  the  other  courts  of  the  State.  It  is 
assisted  by  four  commissioners,  who  are  appointed  by  and 
receive  the  same  salaries  as  the  judges. 

260.  Appellate  Practice. — The  courts  mentioned  in 
the  last  two  sections  are  appellate  courts;  they  are  not  trial 
courts  at  all.  They  have  no  juries  and  they  hear  no  wit- 
nesses. They  will  not  interfere  with  the  province  of  a  jury; 
but  their  duty  is  to  decide  whether  or  not  the  case  was  prop- 
erly submitted  to  the  jury,  or  whether  or  not  it  should  have 
been  submitted  to  a  jury  at  all.  When  a  case  is  taken  to 
one  of  them  by  appeal,  a  copy  of  the  petition,  answer,  evi- 
dence, instructions,  verdict  and  judgment  is  laid  before  it, 
and  it  reviews  them,  and  if  it  finds  that  the  case  has  been 
properly  tried  it  affirms  the  judgment,  and  then  that  judg- 
ment is  fipal  and  binding  on  every  one,  or  if  it  finds  that 
error  has  been  committed  it  points  out  that  error  and  re- 
mands the  cause  to  be  tried  again  according  to  its  directions, 
or  if  it  finds  the  case  has  no  merit  and  ought  never  to  have 
been  brought  it  reverses  the  judgment  and  dismisses  the 
case,  and  that,  too,  is  the  end  of  it. 

262.  Duty  of  Court  With  Respect  to  Laws.— The 
courts  cannot  make  laws;  it  is  not  for  them  to  say  what  the 


THE  COURTS.  311 

law  should  be.  That  is  the  duty  of  legislative  bodies.  How- 
ever, wrong  the  conduct  of  the  accused  may  be,  the  courts 
will  not  permit  him  to  be  punished  unless  that  conduct  is  in 
clear  violation  of  some  valid  law  enacted  by  the  legislative 
body.  Nor  will  the  courts  permit  him  to  be  punished  if  the 
law  is  one  which  the  legislative  body  had  no  power  to  enact. 
For  instance,  if  a  city  council  should  authorize  the  mayor  to 
try  persons  for  murder  the  courts  would  not  permit  the 
mayor  to  try  a  murder  case,  for  the  city  council,  so  long  as 
our  present  Constitution  remains  unchanged,  has  not  been 
given  the  power  to  confer  such  authority  upon  the  mayor. 
The  courts  in  this  way  are  a  great  check  on  city  councils 
and  the  General  Assembly.  They  cause  them  to  confine 
themselves  to  their  own  legitimate  work.  They  cause  them 
to  be  cautious  lest  they  heedlessly  enact  high-handed  laws. 
And  by  refusing  to  make  laws  themselves  they  force  upon 
legislative  bodies  the  duty  of  assuming  their  own  responsi- 
bility of  making  laws  for  repressing  public  wrong. 

It  is  the  duty  of  the  courts  to  say  what  the  law  is;  not 
what  it  ought  to  be.  And  it  is  their  duty  to  enforce  the  law 
in  individual  cases,  and  that  they  do  by  rendering  judgment, 
and  by  issuing  execution  directing  the  sheriff  to  carry  out  that 
judgment. 

263.  Enforcement  of  the  Law. — The  duty  of  enforc- 
ing the  law  is  ordinarily  devolved  almost  entirely  upon  the 
courts.  Without  our  courts  many  laws  passed  by  the  Leg-, 
islature  would  be  idle  and  useless ;  they  would  be  no  more 
than  so  much  printed  paper.  But  the  courts  enforce  the  laws 
by  applying  them  to  individual  cases.  The  judge  does  not 
begin  prosecutions,  nor  does  he  begin  any  kind  of  suits.  His 
duty  is  to  charge  the  grand  jury  to  make  inquiry  as  to  the 
violations  of  the  laws  and  to  indict  those  who  have  commit- 
ted crimes.  He  cannot  charge  the  prosecuting  attorney  to 
do  that,  but  whenever  he  thinks  that  officer  is  not  doing  his 
duty  in  beginning  prosecutions  against  violators  of  the  law, 


312  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

he  can  summon  a  grand  jury  and  charge  them  to  make  inves- 
tigations, and  if  the  evidence  shows  that  a  known  person 
has  committed  a  certain  crime  to  indict  him,  and  if  an  in- 
dictment is  returned  and  the  accused  is  brought  into  the 
court,  the  prosecuting  attorney  must  proceed  to  try  the  case  or 
dismiss  it.  And  if  the  property  of  a  private  person  is  being 
withheld  from  him  by  another,  that  person  may  come  into 
court  on  a  written  petition  and  ask  the  court  to  compel  that 
other  to  yield  up  to  him  his  own,  and  then  the  court  will 
determine  the  rights  of  each  in  relation  to  that  specific 
property,  and  enforce  those  rights  by  directing  the  sheriff 
what  to  do.  Thus  the  laws  are  enforced  by  applying  them 
in  individual  cases,  just  as  the  rules  of  your  school  are  en- 
forced by  punishing  individual  violators. 

264.  '  Efficiency  of  the  Courts. — But  whether  or  not 
the  laws  will'  be  properly  enforced  in  all  cases  depends  on  the 
character  and  ability  of  the  judge,  and  of  the  sheriff,  and  of 
the  prosecuting  attorney  in  criminal  cases,  and  on  the  truth- 
fulness of  witnesses,  and  the  fairness  and  integrity  of  juries. 
The  people  should  choose  men  of  solid  character  and  proper 
ability  to  be  judge,  sheriff  and  prosecuting  attorney;  but 
those  officers,  however  capable  and  however  hard  they  may 
try,  cannot  prevent  a  "failure  of  justice"  if  witnesses  testify 
falsely  or  jurors  fail  to  obey  the  instructions  of  the  court. 
Truthfulness  is  the  foundation  of  justice. 

265.  The  Morals  of  the  Community. — Whenever 
the  people  cease  to  be  truthful  the  courts  will  break  down. 
Whenever  it  becomes  the  rule  that  witnesses  "bear  false 
witness"  and  jurors  become  corrupt,  the  courts  will  become 
a  farce,  and  government  a  failure.  So  after  all  whether  or 
not  a  citizen's  property,  life  and  liberty  will  be  protected,  in 
a  large  measure  depends  on  the  truthfulness  of  witnesses  and 
the  honest  character  of  jurors.  And  whether  or  not  wit- 
nesses will  tell  the  truth,  and  jurors  be  true  to  their  oaths 
and  intelligent  and  just  in  their  verdicts,  depends  in  large 


THE  COURTS.  313 

measure  upon  the  moral  character  of  the  people,  the  kind  and 
extent  of  the  education  they  receive  and  their  regard  for  the 
authority  of  law.  It  comes  about,  then,  that  every  man 
who  is  trying  to  be  truthful  and  honest,  and  every  teacher 
who  is  inspiring  his  pupils  with  a  love  for  the  truth  and  for 
intelligence,  and  every  parent  who  is  teaching  his  children 
to  be  obedient,  truthful,  honest  and  industrious,  is  a  help  to 
the  court  in  the  administration  of  justice.  Not  only  that, 
but  he  is  adding  to  the  value  of  every  piece  of  property  in 
his  county  and  making  his  community  a  more  desirable  one 
in  which  to  live.  The  just  enforcement  of  the  law  against 
crime  causes  you  to  feel  secure  in  your  person  and  to  feel  that 
you  can  enjoy  your  property  in  peace  and  safety,  and  conse- 
quently that  property  becomes  more  valuable  to  you.  If  the 
courts  afford  you  a  sure  method  of  recovering  from  your  neigh- 
bor property  or  money  that  rightfully  belongs  to  you,  then 
your  property  becomes  more  valuable  to  you ;  and  if  the  same 
sure  method  is  guaranteed  to  every  one  in  the  community, 
then  the  value  of  all  property  is  enhanced,  for  every  one  will 
feel  that  the  community  is  bent  on  seeing  that  he  enjoys  in 
peace  what  belongs  to  him.  But  the  courts  cannot  afford 
this  sure  method  unless  men  have  the  moral  courage  to  tell 
the  truth  when  they  go  on  the  witness  stand,  and  jurors  the 
moral  courage  to  be  just  when  they  come  to  make  up  their 
verdict. 

266.  Perjury. — But  in  spite  of  all  parents  can  do,  and 
schools  can  do,  and  moral  instruction  of  every  kind  can  do, 
there  are  some  men  so  low  in  moral  character  that  they  will 
take  an  oath  to  tell  "the  whole  truth  and  nothing  but  the 
truth"  and  then  go  on  the  witness  stand  and  swear  falsely. 
Corrupt  and  false  swearing  is  perjury,  and  the  law  provides 
that  any  one  convicted  of  perjury  may  be  imprisoned  in  the 
penitentiary,  and  that  any  person  who  procures  or  induces 
him  to  commit  perjury  may  be  punished  in  the  same  way. 


314  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

267.  Ignorance  of  the  Law. — Ignorance  does  not  ex- 
cuse the  criminal.  Ignorance  of  what  the  law  is  does  not 
excuse  the  violation  of  law.  If  one  is  brought  into'  court 
charged  with  the  violation  of  a  law  he  cannot  plead  that  he 
did  not  know  that  the  act  he  was  doing  was  forbidden  by  the 
law. 

This  rule  rarely  works  an  injustice.  It  is  a  rare  thing 
that  one  commits  a  crime  without  knowing  it  to  be  such. 
What  the  law  says  is  a  crime  is  in  nearly  every  case  the  doing 
of  something  that  all  men  know  to  be  wrong.  However 
little  one  may  have  read  the  laws  of  the  land,  yet  if  he  does 
only  what  he  knows  to  be  right,  what  he  does  will  rarely  be 
in  violation  of  law.  The  law  is  founded  on  good  morals,  and 
the  churches,  the  schools,  the  home,  and  all  good  men  gen- 
erally teach  good  morals.  Good  morals  require  one  to  be 
honest  in  his  business  dealings,  and  not  to  cheat  or  defraud 
or  take  from  another  what  rightly  belongs  to  him,  and  hence, 
we  may  say,  the  man  who  is  always  honest  will  never  com- 
mit a  theft.  And  so  it  is  with  all  other  conduct;  the  boy 
who  starts  out  in  life  with  an  honest  purpose  to  always  do 
right  and  remains  true  to  that  purpose  will  never  commit  a 
crime,  however  ignorant  he  may  be  of  what  is  written  in  the 
law. 

Besides,  ignorance  itself  is  often  a  moral  wrong.  The 
man  who  has  a  good  opportunity  to  learn  and  will  not  do  so 
commits  a  wrong  against  himself  and  against  society.  Schools 
are  now  established  within  the  neighborhood  of  every  child, 
and  every  child  ought  to  be  given  some  education  unless  pre- 
vented by  '  sickness  or  poverty  or  some  other  unavoidable 
hindrance. 

Nor  is  there  any  good  reason  why  any  person  should  re- 
main ignorant  of  what  is  written  in  the  law.  If  he  has  any 
doubt  about  it  let  him  consult  a  lawyer,  or  let  him  get  the 
statutes  and  read  them.  There  are  lawyers  in  every  county, 
and  printed  volumes  of  the  statutes  can  be  found  with  every 


THE  COURTS.  315 

justice  of  the  peace,  and  in  every  court  house,  or  if  the  laws 
are  city  ordinances,  they  can  be  found  with  the  poHce  judge, 
or  mayor,  or  city  clerk.  And  books  containing  these  printed 
laws  can  always  be  bought  by  any  citizen. 

Questions  on  Chapter  V. 

1.  What  is  the  judicial  department?     (242) 

2.  What  are  the  courts  of  this  State?     (242) 

3.  Why  have  these  courts  been  established?     (242) 

4.  How  are  laws  divided?     (243) 

5.  How  is  Civil  Law  divided?     (243) 

6.  What  does  Common  Law  concern?     (243) 

7.  Whence  is  it  derived?     (243) 

8.  Where  is  it  found?     (243) 

9.  What  is  Statutory  Law?     (243) 

10.  Does  it  ever  supplant  the  Common  Law?     (243) 

11.  Until  thus  supplanted  is  the- Common  Law  in  force?     (243) 

12.  Who  take  part  in  enforcing  the  Common  Law  and  Statutory  Law? 

(243) 

13.  W^hy  was  Equity  Law  created?     (243) 

14.  By  whom  are  equity  cases  tried?     (243) 

15.  To  what  does  Criminal  Law  relate?     (243) 

16.  How  are  crimes  divided?     (243) 

17.  WTiat  is  a  misdemeanor?     (243) 

18.  How  is  a  misdemeanor  tried?     (243) 

19.  What  is  a  felony?     (243) 

20.  Hpw  is  it  tried?     (243) 

21.  What  is  said  of  justices  of  the  peace?     (244) 

22.  How  may  arrests  be  made?     (244) 

23.  Out  of  what  courts  do  warrants  issue?     (244) 

24.  Out  of  what  courts  do  they  usually  issue?     (244) 

25.  WTien  may  the  justice  issue  such  warrants?     (244) 

26.  By  whom  may  the  complaint  be  made?     (244) 

27.  Where  will  the  accused  be  tried?     (244) 

28.  WTiat  civil  suits  may  be  tried  in  a  justice's  court?     (244) 

29.  Where  may  prosecutions  in  misdemeanor  cases  be  begun?     (244) 

30.  Can  a  justice  try  an  equity  case?     (244) . 

31.  How  many  men  constitute  a  jury  in  a  magistrate's  court?     (244) 

32.  What  is  the  finding  of  the  jury  called?     (244) 

33.  How  many  jurors  may  make  a  verdict?     (244) 

34.  When  and  how  may  there  be  an  appeal  in  a  civil  case?     In  a  crim- 

inal case?     (244) 


316  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  (JF  MISSOURI. 

35.  How  is  the  justice  paid?     (244) 

36.  What  is  the  constable?     (245) 

37.  What  are  his  duties?     (245) 

38.  With  what  business  is  the  probate  court  concerned  ?     (246) 

39.  What  must  be  done  when  one  dies?     (246) 

40.  What  property  may  be  used  for  that  purpose?     (246) 

41.  If  the  person  has  left  no  will  who  takes  charge  of  his  estate?    (246) 

42.  If  he  has  left  a  will,  who  does?     (246) 

43.  Can    the    will  deprive  the  widow  of  her  dower  or  homestead? 

(246) 

44.  Can  the  deceased  defeat  the  payment  of  his  debts  by  his  will? 

(246) 

45.  When  the  estate  is  finally  administered,  what  is  done  with  the 

balance?     (246) 

46.  What  are  the  circuit  courts?     (247) 

47.  What  kind  of  cases  may  be  tried  in  them?     (247) 

48.  How  many  circuits  and  how  many  judges  in  each?     (247) 

49.  What  are  criminal  courts?     (248) 

50.  What  are  the  qualifications  and  salary  of  a  circuit  judge?     (249) 

51.  What  assistants  has  he?     (250) 

52.  Tell  how  the  grand  jury  is  constituted  and  what  are  its  duties. 

(251) 

53.  What  change  in  the  prosecution  of  felons  was  wrought  by  the 

amendment  of  1900?     (251) 
•54.     What  is  the  petit  jury?     (252) 

55.  How  are  the  jurors  and  panel  chosen?     (252) 

56.  How  is  the  panel  made  up  in  case  the  accused  may  be  punished 

with  death  or  life  imprisonment?     (252) 

57.  How  many  jurors  can  make  a  verdict  in  a  civil  case?     In  a  fel- 

ony case?     (252) 

58.  What  is  said  of  trial  by  jury?     (253) 

59.  What  are  the  parties  to  a  suit  styled?     (254) 

60.  Name  the  various  steps  in  a  civil  trial.     (254) 

61.  In  a  criminal  trial?     (255) 

62.  Who  fixes  the  punishment  in  a  criminal  trial?     (255) 

63.  How  are  instructions  given?     (256) 

64.  What  do  they  embrace?     (256) 

65.  What  is  a  judgment?     (257) 

66.  How  far  binding  is  it?     (257) 

67.  What  cases  may  be  appealed  to  «i  court  of  appeals?     (257) 

68.  What  in  a  general  way  to  the  Supreme  Court?     (257) 

69.  Tell  about  the  courts  of  appeals.     (258) 


COUNTIES.  317 

70.  What  is  said  about  the  Supreme  Court?     (259) 

71.  How  is  a  case  laid  before  an  appellate  court  ?     (260) 

72.  When  will  it  affirm  the  judgment?     (260) 

73.  When  will  it  remand  the  cause?     (260) 

74.  When  will  it  reverse  the  judgment?     (260) 

75.  Who  makes  the  laws?     (262) 

76.  Must  the  accused  violate  valid  law  before  he  can  be  punished? 

(263) 

77.  Upon  whom  does  the  enforcement  of  the  law  devolve?     (263) 

78.  How  does  it  enforce  them?     (263) 

79.  Upon  what  does  the  enforcement  of  law  depend?     (264) 

80.  Can  they  always  prevent  a  failure  of  justice?     (264) 

81.  What  is  the  foundation  of  justice?     (264) 

82.  When  will  the  courts  break  down  and  government  become  a 

failure?     (265) 

83.  Upon  what  do  the  truthfulness  of  witnesses  and  the  honesty  of 

jurors  depend?     (265) 

84.  What  is  perjury?     (266) 

85.  Does  ignorance  of  the  law  excuse  crime?     (267) 

86.  Is  that  a  harsh  rule?    Why?     (267) 


CHAPTER  VI. 

COUNTIES. 

268.  Relation  to  State. — The  county  is  a  political 
subdivision  of  the  State.  There  are  one  hundred  and 
fourteen  counties,  besides  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  in  Missouri. 
Each  of  the  114  has  certain  officers  elected  by  the  people. 
They  are  the  county  clerk,  sheriff,  circuit  clerk,  three  judges 
of  the  county  court,  probate  judge,  recorder  of  deeds,  pros- 
ecuting attorney,  treasurer,  collector,  assessor,  surveyor, 
public  administrator,  superintendent  of  schools  and  coroner. 
The  city  of  St.  Louis,  in  which  the  city  and  county  govern- 
ments are  consolidated  and  which  is  classified  as  a  county 
for  some  purposes,  has  the  same  officers  as  the  other  counties, 
except  that  it  has  no  county  court  or  county  clerk,  but  in 
lieu  thereof  a  comptroller,  and  a  board  of  public  service  and 


.318  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

numerous  other  officers  appertaining  to  the  government  of 
a  large  city. 

269.  Boundaries. — Each  county  was  organized  by  the 
Legislature,  which  fixed  its  boundaries.  These  boundaries 
can  not  be  changed  except  by  the  Legislature. 

270.  County  Seat. — The  county  seat  is  the  seat  of  the 
county  government.  It  is  usually  where  the  court  house  is. 
It  can  be  changed  only  by  a  vote  of  the  people  of  the  county. 
In  the  court  house  are  kept  all  the  county  records,  and  the 
county  officers  have  officers  there,  and  sessions  of  the  circuit 
court  and  of  the  county  court  are  held  therein. 

271.  The  County  Court. — The  county  court  consists 
of  three  officers,  called  judges  of  the  county  court.  One  of 
these  is  elected  from  the  whole  county  for  four  years  and  is 
called  the  presiding  judge.  The  other  two  are  elected  for 
two  years  each,  one  from  one-half  of  the  county  and  the  other 
from  the  other  half.  This  court  meets  in  regular  session 
every  three  months  and  sometimes  in  special  session  once  a 
month,  and  even  oftener,  and  is  charged  with  levying  taxes 
upon  the  inhabitants  of  the  county  to  pay  the  expenses  of 
the  county  government.  This  money  is  needed  for  paying 
the  salaries  of  county  officers  and  the  fees  of  jurors,  for  build- 
ing bridges  and  working  roads;  for  caring  for  paupers  and  in- 
digent insane  persons;  for  paying  the  county's  debts  and  the 
expenses  of  elections;  for  prosecuting  criminals  and  main- 
taining the  authority  of  government.  It  is  also  charged  with 
seeing  that  these  taxes  are  properly  collected,  and  safely  kept, 
and  disbutsed  as  the  law  requires. 

If  any  person  has  a  claim  against  the  county  he  presents 
it  to  this  court  for  allowance,  and  if  it  is  allowed  by  the  court 
the  county  clerk  is  directed  to  issue  a  warrant  for  the  amount, 
which,  when  signed  by  the  presiding  judge  and  the  clerk,  may 
be  paid  by  the  treasurer.  No  money  can  be  expended  by 
the  county  for  aity  purpose  except  by  the  direction  of  this 


COUNTIES.  319 

court,  nor  can  the  court  direct  its  payment  for  any  purpose 
not  specified  by  law. 

The  county  court  designates  voting  places  in  each  town- 
ship, and  appoints  judges  of  elections  for  each  place,  for  all 
general  and  special  elections  throughout  the  county,  but  not 
for  school  or  city  elections. 

It  exercises  a  supervising  control  over  all  county  officers, 
and  is  charged  with  seeing  that  they  do  not  appropriate 
funds  belonging  to  the  county.  It  also  establishes  new  roads, 
and  in  doing  that  it  is  a  judicial  body,  but  in  almost  all  other 
matters  is  a  part  of  the  executive  department  of  government, 
established  for  the  purpose  of  managing  the  business  of  the 
county,  and  that  is  its  chief  business. 

272.  County  Clerk. — The  county  clerk  records  in 
proper  books  the  doings  of  the  county  court.  He  apportions 
to  each  taxpayer  of  the  county,  according  to  the  assessments 
made  by  the  assessor  and  boards  of  equalization  and  to  the 
levy  made  by  the  county  court,  the  amount  of  state  and 
county  and  school  taxes  to  be  paid  by  such  taxpayer,  and  he 
also  apportions  to  each  school  district  the  amount  of  county 
school  funds  to  which  it  is  entitled  for  conducting  its  schools. 
His  books  are,  therefore,  a  check  on  the  county  collector  and 
on  the  county  treasurer.  He  counts  the  votes  cast  at  all 
elections  in  the  county,  in  the  presence  of  two  justices  of  the 
peace  or  two  judges  of  the  county  court,  and  gives  a  certifi- 
cate of  election  to  the  candidate  for  county  office  who  has 
received  the  highest  number  of  votes,  and  certifies  to  the  Sec- 
retary of  State  the  number  of  votes  cast  in  his  county  for 
candidates  for  the  various  state  and  district  offices  and  Rep- 
resentatives in  Congress,  and  to  the  Governor  the  number  of 
votes  cast  for  Presidential  electors. 

273.  County  Collector. — After  the  county  clerk  has 
apportioned  to  each  taxpayer  the  amount  of  taxes  due  from 
him,  for  state,  county  and  school  purposes,  and  made  proper 
entry  thereof  in  the  tax-book,  he  turns  that  book  over  to  the 


320  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

county  collector,  who  proceeds  to  collect  the  taxes.  All 
taxes  are  payable  at  any  time  between  September  and  the 
last  day  of  December,  and  become  delinquent  on  the  first 
day  of  January,  and  after  that  a  penalty  of  one  per  cent  per 
month  on  the  amount  due  is  added  for  failure  to  pay  in  proper 
time.  The  collector  cannot  sue  to  recover  unpaid  taxes  until 
after  they  have  remained  delinquent  one  year,  but  if  not  paid 
within  that  time  he  can  sue  at  any  time  within  the  next  four 
years. 

In  counties  having  township  organization  the  taxes  are 
collected  by  township  collectors,  there  being  one  in  each 
municipal  township.  The  tax-books  are  prepared  for  them 
by  the  county  clerk. 

274.  County  Treasurer. — The  county  collector  remits 
to  the  state  treasurer  the  state  taxes  collected  by  him,  and 
the  balance  he  turns  over  to  the  county  treasurer,  and  the 
treasurer  pays  out  the  county  revenue  on  warrants  issued  by 
the  county  court,  and  the  school  moneys  on  warrants  issued 
by  the  proper  school  board.  The  county  treasurer  is  re- 
quired to  give  a  large  bond  for  the  faithful  keeping  of  the 
money  thus  entrusted  to  him.  The  moneys  are  not  permit- 
ted to  lie  idle  in  his  hands,  but  are  deposited  in  certain  banks 
called  county  depositaries,  which  pay  the  county  a  small 
rate  of  interest  for  the  use  of  the  moneys. 

In  counties  having  township  organization  the  county 
treasurer  is  also  ex  officio  county  collector,  and  the  taxes  col- 
lected for  county  and  state  purposes  are  turned  over  to  him 
by  the  township  collectors,  and  then  this  ex  officio  collector 
sends  the  State's  share  to  the  state  treasurer.  But  the 
school  taxes  are  turned  over  to  the  township  treasurer,  who 
pays  them  out  on  warrants  drawn  by  the  proper  school 
boards  of  the  townships;  and  the  township  revenues,  to  be 
used  for  working  roads,  constructing  small  bridges,  etc.,  are 
paid  out  by  the  township  treasurer  on  warrants  drawn  by  the 
township  board. 


COUNTIES.  321 

The  county  treasurer  and  the  county  collector  (and  the 
township  collectors)  are  required,  to  make  annual  settlements 
with  the  county  court,  which  goes  carefully  over  their  books, 
adds  up  the  warrants  paid  and  counts  the  cash  on  hand,  to 
see  that  they  have  faithfully  applied  all  the  moneys  received 
by  them  as  the  law  directs. 

275.  The  Assessor. — The  assessor  values  the  lands  and 
other  property  in  the  county  for  purposes  of  taxation.  He 
visits  each  property-owner  in  the  county  and  requires  him 
to  give  him  under  oath  an  itemized  statement  of  all  his  prop- 
erties, and  then  lists  those  properties  in  a  book  prepared  for 
the  purpose,  called  the  assessment  book,  and  places  a  value 
on  each  piece  of  property  so  listed,  and  makes  a  return  of  his 
work  to  the  county  clerk.  If  the  property-owner  refuses  to 
give  him  a  list  of  his  property  he  makes  the  assessment  as 
best  he  can  from  any  other  information  he  may  obtain,  and 
the  value  he  fixes  upon  it  is  doubled;  and  if  the  property- 
owner  makes  a  false  list  and  that  fact  is  shown,  his  taxes  are 
trebled.  If  he  refuses  to  make  oath  to  his  list,  he  is  subject 
to  a  fine  of  not  to  exceed  one  thousand  dollars,  and  if  he  makes 
a  false  oath  he  is  liable  as  for  perjury. 

When  the  assessor  has  completed  the  assessment  of  all 
real  and  personal  property  in  the  county,  the  county  board  of 
equalization,  composed  of  the  three  judges  of  the  county  court, 
the  assessor  and  the  surveyor,  meets  and  equalizes  the  assessor's 
valuations,  and  increases  or  diminishes  them  as  to  them  seems 
just.  They  give  notice  of  any  increases  made  by  them,  and 
then  a  week  or  two  later  meet  again,  this  time  as  a  board  of 
appeals,  to  hear  complaints  from  owners  who  feel  the  valuation 
placed  on  their  property  is  too  high,  and  change  any  valuation 
that  seems  unjust. 

There  is  also  a  State  Tax  Commission,  composed  of  three 
commissioners  appointed  by  the  Governor  for  a  term  of  six 
years,  which  has  been  created  to  aid  the  State  Board  of  Equal- 
ization  (discussed  in  Section  235)  in 

21 


322  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

equalizing  and  adjusting  the  valuations  of  property  among  the 
several  counties.  It  has  extensive  powers.  It  has  general 
supervision  over  county  assessors  and  county  boards  of 
equalization,  and  power  to  compel  omitted  property  to  be 
placed  on  the  assessment  book,  to  raise  or  lower  the  valuations 
as  made  by  these  county  officers,  and  to  compel  the  property  of 
individuals  to  be  valued  at  its  true  value.  The  valuations 
fixed  by  it  upon  the  property  in  a  county,  or  those  made  by  the 
county  officers  if  it  has  made  no  changes  in  them,  are  the  ones 
that  a  month  or  two  later  are  laid  before  the  State  Board 
of  Equalization. 

That  board,  having  the  valuations  of  the  property  in  all 
the  counties  before  it,  proceeds  to  equalize  them,  by  raising 
those  of  some  counties  and  lowering  those  of  others,  and  the 
valuations  as  made  by  it  are  final.  Then  the  county  clerk  in 
each  county,  in  obedience  to  the  order  of  the  state  board, 
increases  or  decreases  on  the  assessment  book,  by  the  per  cent 
directed  by  that  board,  the  valuation  of  each  piece  of  property 
in  the  county — that  is,  he  by  that  per  cent  raises  or  lowers  the 
valuations  that  had  previously  been  made  by  the  county 
assessors  and  the  county  board  and  the  State  Tax  Commission. 

The  valuation  of  each  piece  of  property  in  the  county 
being  thus  fixed,  the  county  court  fixes  the  rate  of  taxation 
for  state  and  county  purposes,  and  makes  a  levy  of  that  rate 
against  all  the  property  in  the  county,  and  directs  the  county 
clerk  to  calculate  the  amount  of  taxes  each  taxpayer  is  to 
pay,  and  the  clerk  makes  such  calculation,  enters  the  amount 
in  a  tax-bpok,  and  turns  that  book  over  to  the  collector,  who 
proceeds  to  collect  the  taxes. 

Thus,  if  the  county  court  is  of  the  opinion  that  a  tax  rate 
of  40  cents  on  the  hundred  dollars  valuation  will  afford  the 
county  enough  revenue  for  meeting  its  current  expenses  for 
the  next  year,  it  makes  a  levy  of  forty  cents  on  the  hundred 
dollars  valuation  against  all  property  in  the  county.  Then 
if  your  land  has  been  valued  at  $600,  and  your  personal  prop- 


COUNTIES.  323 

erty  at  $400,  the  county  clerk  lists  your  name  and  your  land 
in  the  "Real  Estate  Book"  and  writes  opposite  thereto  the 
valuation  placed  on  the  land,  and  the  rate  of  taxation  for 
county  purposes  (40  cents)  and  charges  your  land  with  $2.40 
county  taxes,  and  also  affixes  the  rate  of  taxation  for  state 
purposes  as  fixed  by  law  (say  17  cents)  and  charges  the  land 
with  $1.02  state  taxes,  and  then  the  rate  of  taxation  for  school 
purposes  as  fixed  by  the  voters  or  school  board  of  the  dis- 
trict in  which  the  land  lies  (say  45  cents)  and  charges  the 
land  with  $2.70  school  taxes.  In  another  book  called  the 
"Personal  Assessment  Book,"  he  enters  your  name  and  the 
valuation  fixed  on  your  personal  property  ($400)  and  then 
opposite  thereto  he  enters  the  rate  of  taxation  for  county 
purposes  (40  cents)  and  charges  you  with  $1.60  county  taxes, 
and  the  rate  of  taxation  for  state  purposes  as  fixed  by  law 
(say  17  cents)  and  charges  you  with  68  cents  state  taxes,  and 
the  rate  of  taxation  for  school  purposes  as  fixed  by  the  voters 
or  school  board  of  the  district  in  which  you  live  (say  45  cents) 
and  charges  you  with  $1.80  school  taxes.  These  books  are 
then  turned  over  to  the  collector,  and  he  makes  out  one  tax- 
bill  in  which  he  incorporates  all  the  taxes  due  from  one  tax- 
payer, and  proceeds  to  collect  that  bill. 

The  above  illustration  may  not  include  all  taxes  you 
have  to  pay.  It  includes  only  the  taxes  for  state  purposes, 
for  current  county  expenses  and  ordinary  school  taxes.  The 
county  may  be  indebted  for  a  court  house  or  jail,  and,  if  so, 
the  county  court  must  annually  add  to  the  rate  levied  by  it 
for  current  expenses  such  a  tax  as  will  produce  enough  money 
to  pay  the  interest  and  one-twentieth  of  that  debt.  The 
county  court  may  also,  in  obedience  to  the  vote  of  the  people, 
have  issued  bonds,  and  sold  them,  and  used  the  money  in 
that  way  obtained  to  build  permanent  public  roads,  and  to 
pay  those  bonds  it  must  levy  a  further  tax  sufficient  to 
pay  the  interest  on  those  bonds  as  it  becomes  due  and  one- 
twentieth  of  the  principal  annually.     And  a  school  district 


324  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

may  be  indebted  for  a  school  house;  if  so,  there  must  be 
levied  by  the  school  board  and  charged  by  the  county  clerk 
to  the  property-holders  therein,  in  addition  to  the  tax  for 
paying  teachers  and  paying  incidental  expenses,  a  tax  suf- 
ficient to  pay  the  interest  on  the  debt  and  a  part  of  the  prin- 
cipal each  year.  And  there  may  be  a  special  road  district 
which  has  issued  bonds  or  incurred  other  debts  in  building 
public  roads,  and  if  so  there  may  be  a  further  tax  to  pay  that 
indebtedness. 

Neither  does  this  illustration  include  city  taxes  levied 
for  maintaining  city  government.  They  are  not  levied  by 
the  county  court,  and  will  be  discussed  elsewhere. 

"  ■  Railroads,  street  railways,  telegraph  and  telephone  lines 
are  assessed  by  the  State  Board  of  Equalization,  and  then 
the  portion  thereof  lying  in  any  county  and  in  any  town  or 
township  therein  and  the  valuation  thereof  are  certified  to 
the  county  court,  which  levies  the  same  rate  of  taxes  against 
them  as  against  other  properties  in  the  county. 

Both  real  estate  and  personal  property  are  assessed  or 
valued  every  year.  And  the  property  assessed  is  the  prop- 
erty which  the  taxpayer  had  on  hand  on  the  first  day  of  June. 

276.  The  Circuit  Clerk  is  the  clerk  for  the  circuit 
court.  He  issues  summonses,  subpoenas  for  witnesses,  and 
warrants  for  the  arrest  of  persons  charged  with  crime,  and 
keeps  in  suitable  books  a  record  of  the  doings  of  the  court. 
He  administers  oaths  to  grand  juries  and  petit  juries  and 
swears  witnesses.  In  some  counties  he  is  also  ex  officio  re- 
corder. 

277.  The  Sheriff  is  the  executive  officer  of  the  county 
court,  circuit  court  and  probate  court.  He  serves  subpoenas 
upon  witnesses  and  summonses  upon  defendants  to  lawsuits, 
makes  arrests  and  carries  out  the  orders  of  the  courts.  He 
is  the  chief  peace  officer  of  the  county,  and,  in  order  to  pre- 
serve the  peace  against  any  general  and  sudden  defiance  of 
law,  can  command  every  able-bodied  man  in  the  county  to 


COUNTIES.  325 

assist  him.  This  is  called  posse  comitatus,.  which  means 
"the  power  of  the  county."  In  some  counties  he  is  also  ex 
officio  collector. 

278.  The  Prosecuting  Attorney  is  the  legal  adviser 
of  the  county  court  in  all  matters  of  law.  His  chief  duty 
consists  in  prosecuting  men  who  have  been  indicted  or  ar- 
rested for  crime.  In  most  counties  he  also  represents  the 
county  in  all  suits  brought  by  or  against  it,  and  draws  up 
all  contracts  to  which  it  is  a  party;  but  in  a  few  of  large  pop- 
ulation there  is  a  county  counselor  to  attend  to  the  civil  busi- 
ness of  the  county. 

279.  The  Recorder  of  Deeds  copies  in  large  volumes 
all  deeds  conveying  land  in  his  county,  all  wills  devising 
lands,  all  mortgages  and  deeds  of  trust,  and  either  files  or 
copies  all  chattel  mortgages.  These  records  are  open  to  the 
inspection  of  all  persons.  It  is  through  these  records  that 
the  titles  to  lands  are  traced  and  the  owners  thereof  ascer- 
tained. 

280.  The  Surveyor  lays  out  such  new  roads  as  the 
county  court  may  direct  to  be  opened.  He  also  fixes  the 
boundary  lines  of  the  land  of  private  citizens  when  requested 
to  do  so.  He  is  usually  the  bridge  commissioner  of  the 
county  and  as  such  superintends  the  construction  of  larger 
public  bridges,  and  he  may  also  be  appointed  county  road 
engineer,  and  as  such  superintend  the  construction  of  the 
public  roads  of  the  county. 

281.  The  Public  Administrator. — ^When  one  dies,  letters 
of  administration  are  granted  to  the  widow  or  widower,  if 
there  be  such,  or,  if  not,  to  those  entitled  to  a  distributive 
share  of  the  estate  or  one  or  more  of  them,  if  they  are  resi- 
dents of  the  State.  But  sometimes  it  happens  that  one  dies 
without  any  relatives,  or  such  relatives  are  residents  of  other 
states,  or  are  minors,  or  are  not  able  to  make  the  necessary 
bond.  In  such  cases  the  probate  court  may  appoint  any 
suitable  resicient  administrator;  or  the  public  administrator, 
who  has  been  elected  by  the  people,  comes  forward  and  takes 
charge  of  the  estate,  and  proceeds  to  administer  it,  under  the 
direction  of  the  court. 


326  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

282.  The  Coroner. — It  is  the  duty  of  this  officer  to 
examine  into  the  cause  of  any  sudden  or  suspicious  death 
or  kilHng  in  his  county,  and  if  necessary  require  the  arrest 
of  any  person  suspected  of  causing  such  death.  He  may  be 
aided  by  a  jury  of  six  men. 

283.  Compensation  of  Officers. — The  pay  of  all  county 
officers  is  regulated  by  law.  The  amount  is  dependent  upon 
the  bulk  of  business  pertaining  to  the  office  or  the  number  of 
inhabitants.  The  most  of  them  are  required  to  charge  a 
small  fee  for  each  official  duty  performed,  and  from  the  total 
amount  of  fees  collected  during  the  year  they  are  permitted 
to  retain  a  named  amount  for  themselves  and  another  named 
amount  for  their  assistants.  The  pay  of  the  county  clerk  and 
the  circuit  clerk  varies  from  $1250  in  the  least  populous 
counties  to  $3000  in  the  largest  counties,  and  the  pay  of  their 
assistants  varies  from  $600  in  the  smallest  counties  to  $16,000 
in  the  largest^.  In  St.  Louis  the  pay  of  the  circuit  clerk  is 
$5000  a  year,  and  he  is  allowed  six  or  eight  times  that  amount 
for  his  deputies.  Prosecuting  attorneys  are  paid  from  $500 
a  year  in  the  smallest  counties  to  $5000  a  year  in  the  largest. 
The  pay  of  a  judge  of  the- county  court  is  five  dollars  per  day 
while  attending  sessions  of  the  court,  and  mileage  of  five  cents 
per  mile  traveled  in  attending  court. 

284.  Townships. — Each  county  is  divided  into  munic- 
ipal townships,  whose  size  and  boundaries  are  made  to  suit 
the  convenience  of  the  inhabitants.  These  townships  are 
given  names  just  as  the  counties  are,  such  as  Richmond, 
Sugar  Creek  or  Happy  Hollow.  In  each  township  there  is 
an  election  precinct  or  voting  place,  and  often  more  than  one, 
especially  if  it  contains  a  large  town  or  city. 

285.  Township  Organization. — In  seventeen  counties 
in  Missouri  there  is  what  is  known  as  township  organi- 
zation. Under  such  a  system  the  officers  of  a  township 
are  increased  and  those  of  the  county  decreased.  Each  town- 
ship then   has   a   township    board,    consisting   of   a   presi- 


COUNTIES.  327 

dent,  clerk,  treasurer  and  two  other  members,  whose  duty 
it  is  to  open  up  new  roads,  pay  overseers  for  working  the 
same  and  authorize  the  building  of  small  bridges.  Instead 
of  a  county  assessor,  the  property  is  assessed  by  the  township 
clerk,  and  instead  of  a  county  collector  there  is  a  collector 
for  each  township,  and  there  is  also  a  township  trustee  or 
treasurer  in  addition  to  the  county  treasurer.  Its  other  of- 
ficers are  the  same  as  those  of  other  counties.  In  such  a 
county,  there  being  no  county  assessor,  the  sheriff  takes  the 
place  of  that  officer  as  a  member  of  the  county  board  of  equal- 
ization. 

286.  Rate  of  Taxation.— The  Constitution  fixes  a 
maximum  rate  of  taxation  for  county  and  township  pur- 
poses. If  the  property  in  a  county  is  assessed  at  less  than 
six  million  dollars  the  rate  can  not  exceed  fifty  cents  on  the 
hundred  dollars'  valuation.  Where  the  valuation  is  between 
six  and  ten  million  dollars,  the  rate  cannot  exceed  forty  cents 
on  the  hundred  dollars.  If  the  valuation  is  over  ten  million- 
and  less  than  thirty  million  dollars,  the  highest  rate  permis- 
sible is  fifty  cents  on  the  hundred  dollars ;  in  counties  having 
thirty  million  or  more,  the  rate  for  these  purposes  cannot 
exceed  thirty-five  cents  on  the  hundred  dollars'  valuation. 
These  are  the  highest  rates  for  ordinary  current  expenses  of 
the  county  and  of  the  townships  therein.  And  by  current 
expenses  is  meant  salaries  of  county  officers,  jurors'  fees,  the 
expenses  of  holding  elections,  working  the  roads,  building 
bridges,  printing,  caring  for  the  poor  and  the  insane,  and  the 
keeping  of  prisoners  in  the  county  jail,  and  such  matters. 

In  addition  to  these  rates  a  further  tax  of  twenty-five 
cents  on  the  hundred  dollars'  valuation  may  be  levied  for 
the  improvement  of  the  public  roads  and  building' bridges, 
and  if  levied  the  money  collected  in  pursuance  thereto  can 
be  used  only  for  these  purposes. 

In  addition  to  these  rates,  the  county  court  must  levy  a 
tax  sufficient  to  pay  the  annual  interest  and  one-twentieth 


328  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

of  the  principal  of  any  debt  which  the  county  may  have 
legally  incurred.  That  debt  will  be  in  the  form  of  bonds  is- 
sued to  build  a  court  house,  or  other  county  buildings,  or 
permanent  public  roads,  and  the  taxes  raised  to  pay  that 
debt  can  be  used  for  no  other  purpose. 

The  county  court  cannot  issue  any  bonds  or  create  any 
debt  in  excess  of  the  revenue  for  the  year  until  authorized 
to  do  so  by  two-thirds  of  the  voters  of  the  county  voting  at 
a  special  election  held  for  that  purpose ;  and  no  debts  can  be 
made  by  the  county  except  to  construct  public  buildings  or 
public  roads,  nor  can  the  indebtedness  of  a  county  exceed 
five  per  cent  of  the  assessed  valuation  of  all  property  in  the 
county,  except  that,  for  building  a  court  house,  jail  or  the 
construction  of  rock  or  gravel  roads,  two-thirds  of  the  voters 
may  authorize  debts  exceeding  five  per  cent. 

286a.  Public  Roads. — One  great  benefit  of  free  gov- 
ernment is  that  it  affords  means  by  which  man's  power  for 
doing  things  is  multiplied. 

More  than  thirty  years  ago  a  great  Missourian,  who  had 
lately  returned  from  a  journey  around  the  world, 'came  into 
the  field  one  fine  October  day  where  a  young  man  was  plough- 
ing. The  young  man  had  gathered  the  corn  from  a  ten-acre 
field,  and  had  hitched  three  horses  to  a  sixteen-inch  plow,  to 
which  was  attached  a  rolling-cutter  and  a  log  chain.  The 
ground  was  rich  and  fallow,  and  the  big  plow  was  turning 
weeds  and  grass  and  stalks  far  out  of  sight.  The  great  Mis- 
sourian looked  on  with  (pride  in  American  freedom,  and  ap- 
proaching, the  young  man  said,  "Do  you  know  that  you 
have  the  power  of  a  thousand  Chinamen  on  those  plow 
handles?"  The  young  man  replied  that  he  did  not;  that  he 
had  thought  a  Chinaman  was  about  as  large  and  strong  as 
he  was.  **He  has  as  large  a  body  as  you  have,"  said  the 
great  man,  **and  as  much  physical  strength  and  activity; 
and  he  has  a  great  brain,  but  he  does  not  have  your  civiliza- 
tion or  your  intelligence.     It  would  take  a  thousand  China- 


COUNTIES.  329 

men,  working  with  their  crude  implements  of  husbandry,  to 
do  in  one  day  what  you  with  three  horses  and  that  big  plow 
are  doing.  They  use  the  same  implements  their  ancestors 
used  thousands  of  years  ago.  Such  a  thing  as  that  Missouri 
plow,  .doing  what  you  are  doing  with  it,  would  be  an  amazing 
wonder  to  them.  Your  government,  your  civilization,  have 
set  free  the  human  mind,  and  in  that  freedom  inventive 
genius  has  found  opportunity  to  produce  that  big  plow,  the 
rolling  cutter  and  the  log  chain,  and  the  result  is  that  your 
capacity  for  doing  useful  things  has  been  multiplied  a  thou- 
sand fold." 

What  the  great  Missourian  said  illustrates  how  man's 
capabilities  for  doing  useful  things  of  many  kinds  may  be 
multiplied.  America  has  surpassed  all  peoples  of  the  earth 
in  inventing  useful  farming  machinery.  But  the  use  of  such 
machinery  is  largely  a  personal  matter  between  the  manu- 
facturer, the  merchant  and  the  farmer;  it  is  not  a  community 
interest ;  it  is  not  a  matter  in  which  the  farmer  must  have  the 
co-operation  of  all  other  farmers  in  the  community  before  he 
can  own  such  machinery  or  successfully  use  it. 

But  the  construction  and  maintenance  of  public  roads  is 
a  community  matter;  no  man  alone  can  have  them;  in  order 
to  have  them  all  the  farmers  of  a  community,  or  practically  all, 
must  co-operate  and  work  together,  and'sometimes  there  must 
be  co-operation  between  a  farming  community  and  a  near-by 
town,  or  between  all  the  citizens  of  a  county,  and  in  some 
cases  many  counties  must  co-operate.  But  American  citizens 
have  been  slow  in  entering  into  that  co-operation.  Yet  good 
roads  are  just  as  important  as  fine  farming  machinery.  It 
is  not  enough  to  produce  great  crops;  it  is  equally  as  im- 
portant to  transport  them  to  the  people  who  wish  to  con- 
sume them  or  are  ready  to  transform  them  into  useful 
manufactured  articles.  Good  roads  increase  a  farmer's  capac- 
ity for  doing  useful  things — he  can  haul  larger  loads  in  less 
time,  and  travel  with  greater   ease  and    comfort;  they  in- 


330  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

crease  the  capacity  of  factories,  because  raw  materials  from 
the  farm  or  mine  can  be  brought  from  a  greater  distance  and 
at  less  cost.  They  bring  rural  and  town  or  city  dwellers 
closer  together,  increase  their  knowledge  and  understanding 
of  each  other's  problems,  and  thereby  the  bond  of  friendly 
relationships  is  strengthened,  which  of  itself  is  of  great  value, 
for  after  all  friendliness  and  mutual  confidence  are  primary 
elements  of  prosperous  trade.  A  nation's  strength,  especially 
its  ability  to  mobilize  its  industries  and  their  products,  is  in 
a  way  to  be  measured  by  its  roads. 

Slowly  different  methods  have  been  worked  out  for  im- 
proving public  roads  in  this  State.  They  somewhat  over- 
lap each  other,  and  it  is  not  easy  to  explain  them  in  such  a 
way  that  the  average  pupil  can  clearly  comprehend  them. 
But  the  main  features  of  the  five  principal  plans  may  be 
stated. 

1.  The  county  court  divides  the  county  into  small 
road  districts,  usually  not  less  4:han  three  miles  square  nor 
larger  than  a  township,  and  appoints  a  road  overseer  for  each, 
who  is  required  to  build  and  repair  the  roads  and  construct 
small  bridges,  under  the  direction  and  according  to  the  plans 
of  the  county  engineer,  who  is  appointed  by  the  court  and  is 
required  to  be  skilled  in  road  building  and  repairing  and  in 
laying  drains.  The  overseer  is  a  resident  of  his  district, 
but  is  not  required  to  possess  any  such  skill.  The  county 
court  levies  a  poll  tax  on  all  able-bodied  men  over  twenty- 
one  and  under  fifty  years  of  age  and  a  property  tax  of  twenty 
cents  on  the  hundred  dollars  on  all  property  in  the  district, 
and  some  time -before  August  the  overseer  summons  all  per- 
sons liable  to  pay  either  tax,  either  to  pay  it  in  money  or 
work  on  the  roads  at  the  rate  of  fifteen  cents  an  hour  for  a 
man,  or  thirty  cents  an  hour  for  a  man  and  team,  until  the 
amount  of  the  taxes  has  been  worked  out.  The  county 
court  also  levies  an  additional  road  tax  of  not  to  exceed 
twenty-five  cents  on  the  hundred  dollars'  valuation  of  all  prop- 


I 


COUNTIES.  331 

erty  in  the  county,  and  out  of  this  it  buys  tools  and  utensils 
for  the  various  road  districts,  and  pays  to  contractors  the 
cost  of  building  all  larger  bridges  and  otherwise  helps  in  road 
improvement. 

In  counties  under  township  organization,  the  township 
board  divides  the  township  into  districts  of  convenient  size, 
and  appoints  a  road  overseer  for  each,  who  wprks  the  roads 
according  to  the  plans  and  directions  of  the  county  engineer; 
and  the  same  taxes  for  road  improvements  are  levied  in  them 
as  are  levied  in  other  counties. 

These  provisions  for  constructing  and  improving  the 
roads  do  not  usually  afford  sufficient  money  or  means  for 
building  rock  or  gravel  or  other  permanent  roads;  yet  they 
apply  to  all  the  counties  except  those  which  have  issued  bonds 
for  the  purpose  of  building  permanent  roads,  and  except 
those  parts  of  other  counties  which  have  been  organized  into 
special  road  districts. 

2.  Territory  eight  miles  square,  within  which  is  an 
incorporated  city  or  village  having  less  than  one  hundred 
thousand  inhabitants,  except  in  counties  under  township  organ- 
ization, may  be  organized  into  a  special  road  district,  and 
the  district  may  by  a  vote  of  two-thirds  of  its  voters 
issue  bonds  equal  to  five  per  cent  of  the  aggregate 
value  of  all  property  therein,  and  sell  such  bonds  and 
use  the  proceeds  in  building  solid  and  lasting  roads 
and  bridges,  and  taxes  sufficient  to  pay  these  bonds 
in  fifteen  years  are  levied  annually  on  all  property  in 
the  district,  according  to  its  assessed  value.  Such  a  district 
is  created  when  a  majority  of  the  voters  thereof  at  a 
special  election  vote  for  it.  Then  the  construction,  repair 
and  maintenance  of  the  roads,  arid  all  of  the  affairs  of  the 
district,  are  placed  under  the  supervision  of  a  board  of  three 
commissioners,  appointed  by  the  county  court  and  the  mayor 
and  council  of  the  city  or  village  acting  together.  The  roads 
are  built  and  repaired  under  contracts  made  by  the  board 
with  suitable  persons,  and  not  by  overseers.     The  district's 


332  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

share  of  all  road  taxes  collected  by  the  collector  or  appro- 
priated by  the  State  and  of  all  license  taxes  are  annually 
turned  over  to  this  board  to  be  used  in  keeping  the  roads  in 
good  condition. 

3.  Road  districts  may  also  be  organized  of  territory 
which  contains  no  incorporated  town,  and  in  counties  under 
township  organization,  as  well  as  in  other  counties.  In 
counties  under  township  organization,  the  district  may  be 
as  large  as  the  township,  but  cannot  contain  less  than  640 
acres.  In  other  counties  it  may  be  of  any  dimension  desired, 
except  that  it  must  contain  as  many  as  2000  acres.  The 
material  used  in  building  the  road  may  be  whatever  sub- 
stance seems  best  adaptable  to  the  soil  and  most  available. 
The  cost  is  paid  by  benefit  assessments  on  the  land  on  each 
side  of  the  road  to  be  improved,  according  to  its  value,  but 
lands  close  to  the  road  are  charged  more  according  to  their 
value  than  those  further  away,  because  the  benefit  to  them 
will  be  larger.  In  other  words,  the  principle  by  which  sewers 
are  built  or  streets  are  paved  in  cities  is  followed  in  these  dis- 
'tricts — by  charging  the  cost  of  the  improvement  against  the 
lands  benefited  by  it,  and  in  proportion  to  the  benefit  each 
tract  receives,  as  nearly  as  may  be.  Personal  property  is 
not  chargeable  with  the  post  of  these  roads,  as  it  is  in  the 
other  road  districts.  The  cost  of  building  and  draining  the 
road  may  be  paid  in  one  year  or  distributed  through  not  more 
than  seventeen  years,  according  to  the  vote  of  the  landowners. 
The  district  has  a  board  of  three  commissioners,  elected  by 
the  voters  of  the  district,  into  whose  hands  is  placed  the 
work  of  building  the  roads  and  keeping  them  in  repair,  and 
they  contract  with  suitable  persons  for  doing  the  actual  work. 
The  district's  share  of  the  county  road  and  license  taxes  is 
annually  turned  into  their  hands  to  be  used  in  dragging  and 
repairing  the  roads. 

4.  Every  county  in  the  State  may  vote  bonds  equal  to 
five  per  cent  of  all  its  taxable  property,  to  be  sold,  and  the 


COUNTIES.  333 

money  used  in  building  permanent  rock  or  gravel  roads 
throughout  the  county.  When  that  is  done,  the  roads  are 
built  under  the  direction  of  the  county  court,  and 
the  entire  work  is  done  by  contract  according  to  plans 
drawn  by  a  skilled  civil  engineer.  The  bonds  are  to  be  paid 
in  twenty  years  by  annual  taxes,  levied  and  collected 
just  as  are  other  taxes,  but  cannot  be  issued  unless  two- 
thirds  of  the  legal  voters  authorize  the  county  court  to 
issue  and  sell  them.  Only  a  few  counties  have  adopted 
this  plan,  but  the  number  is  likely  to  increase  with  the 
years. 

5.  The  remaining  plan  consists  of  state  and  national  aid 
to  public  roads,  and  the  construction  of  state  roads  under  the 
supervision  of  the  State  Highway  Department. 

The  State  levies  a  stamp  tax  of  twenty-five  cents  on  each 
sale  of  grain  or  certificates  of  stock  for  future  delivery  made  by 
any  broker,  and  the  money  arising  from  the  sale  of  such  stamps 
is  used  to  constitute  a  state  road  fund.  The  State  levies 
annual  registration  fees  of  from  four  to  twenty-four  dollars  on 
automobiles  or  other  motor  vehicles  owned  in  the  State,  and 
those  fees  when  collected  are  set  apart  to  increase  that  fund. 
The  law  requires  every  corporation  doing  business  within  the 
State  to  pay  a  registration  fee  of  five  dollars  or  more  each  year 
to  the  Secretary  of  State,  and  those  fees,  too,  are  passed  to 
this  fund.  And  other  fees  and  license  taxes  may  be  set  apart 
to  increase  it. 

This  fund  is  all  used  in  constructing  or  maintaining  public 
roads,  but  it  is  applied  in  three  ways.  (1)  In  1916,  as 
stated  in  Section  96,  Congress  set  aside  seventy-five  million 
dollars  to  be  distributed  among  the  States,  and  to  be  expended 
in  the  next  five  years  in  building  substantial  rural-deliver>'- 
route  post-roads,  in  accordance  with  plans  prescribed  by  a  state 
highway  department  and  approved  by  the  Secretary  of  Agri- 
culture. Missouri's  share  of  that  appropriation  is  about  two 
and  one-half  millions;  but  to  obtain  it  the  State  was  required, 


334  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF   MISSOURI. 

in  some  way,  to  pay  one-half  the  costs  of  constructing  the 
roads.  The  General  Assembly,  therefore,  in  1917,  created  a 
State  Highway  Department,  consisting  of  a  board  of  four 
members  and  an  experienced  engineer,  to  select  state  roads 
and  provide  plans  for  their  construction.  There  are  to  be  not 
less  than  3,500  miles  of  state  roads,  and  they  are  to  be  in- 
creased as  fast  as  funds  for  their  construction  are  available,  and 
each  county  is  to  have  its  share.  The  plans  of  construction 
and  the  materials  to  be  used  having  been  prescribed  by  the 
State  Engineer  and  approved  by  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture, 
the  counties  or  road  districts  proceed  to  the  actual  work  of 
constructing  the  roads  according  to  such  plans,  and  one-half 
the  cost  is  paid  by  the  Government,  and  the  other  half  by  the 
State  out  of  the  State  Road  Fund,  and  so  much  of  that  fund 
is  used  each  year  as  will  enable  the  State  to  receive  its  share  of 
the  money  apportioned  to  it  under  the  act  of  Congress.  State 
roads  miist  be  continuous,  and  are  selected  with  due  regard 
to  the  needs  of  the  people  of  the  county  and  of  the  State  at 
large.  In  making  the  selections,  existing  roads  may  be  utilized, 
or  new  locations  made,  as  the  state  board  may  deem  best. 
(2)  Congress  requires  the  State  to  bear  the  expense  of  main- 
taining and  keeping  in  repair  a  road  which  has  been  con- 
structed with  funds  appropriated  by  it,  and  that  may  be  done 
by  the  county  or  road  district;  but  in  addition  to  the  funds 
under  the  control  of  the  county  court  or  district  boards  that 
may  be  used  for  that  purpose,  the  State  has  provided  other 
means  by  which  that  may  be  done.  A  sum  equal  to  fifteen 
dollars  per  year  for  each  mile  of  county-seat  roads  in  all  the 
counties  is  taken  out  of  the  State  Road  Fund,  and  used  in 
dragging  and  bettering  the  roads  running  by  the  most  practical" 
route  from  one  county  seat  to  another.  The  work  is  done 
under  the  supervision  of  a  county  highway  board,  consisting 
of  the  county  engineer  and  two  other  members  appointed  by 
the  county  court.  (3)  If  any  county  or  district  will  provide 
one-half  the  money  necessary  to  surface  a  road  with  rock  or 
gravel,  or  with  a  well  constructed  mixture  of  sand  and  other 


COUNTIES.  335 

earthy  substance,  the  State  will  supply  the  other  half  out  of 
its  State  Road  Fund;  but  no  county  or  district  can  receive 
for  any  one  year  for  such  purpose  more  than  three  per  cent  of 
the  entire  State  Road  Fund  available  for  road  improvements 
in  that  year ;  nor  can  it  receive  any  sum  at  all  for  that  purpose 
unless  there  is  more  money  in  the  fund  than  is  necessary  to 
construct  the  state  roads  and  drag  and  repair  the  county-seat 
roads,  or  unless  the  road  to  be  surfaced  is  itself  a  state  road. 

286b.  Drainage  Districts. — Drains  and  levees  for  re- 
covering and  protecting  overflow  lands  constitute  another 
community  interest.  By  properly  constructed  drains  and 
levees  not  only  may  rich  swamp  lands  and  bottom  lands 
subject  to  overflow  be  recovered  and  made  to  yield  valuable 
crops,  but  the  health  of  the  people  for  miles  around  will  be 
conserved.  But  such  lands  usually  lie  in  large  tracts,  and 
to  successfully  drain  them  their  owners  must  co-operate  in  a 
general  plan  by  which  one  or  more  large  ditches  and  numer- 
ous lateral  ditches  to  drain  the  lands  and  one  continuous 
levee  or  embankment  to  keep  the  waters  of  the  river  from 
overflowing  them,  may  be  constructed,  each  paying  his  fair 
share  of  the  whole  cost.  The  State  government  has  provided 
ways  by  which  such  co-operation  can  be  brought  about. 

The  owners  of  the  majority  of  the  acres  of  any  contin- 
uous body  of  swamp,  wet  or  overflow  lands  may  sign  articles 
of  agreement  for  the  formation  of  a  drainage  district,  and 
file  them  in  the  circuit  court,  and  the  court  will  give  notice 
to  all  persons  interested  in  the  formation  of  the  district,  and 
after  hearing  all  objections  thereto,  will  determine  whether 
or  not  the  district  should  be  organized  and  if  the  court  finds  it 
should  be,  it  makes  an  order  organizing  the  district  with 
definite  boundaries,  and  thereafter  the  district  is  a  public 
corporation,  just  as  is  a  city  or  a  school  district.  The  court 
appoints  a  board  of  five  supervisors,  and  they  appoint  a  civil 
engineer  to  survey  out  the  needed  ditches  and  levees,  and  to 
determine  upon  their  location  and  size  and  probable  costs, 


336  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

and  to  make  a  complete  plan  of  reclamation.  Then 
three  disinterested  commissioners  are  appointed  by  the  court 
to  assess  against  each  tract  of  land  its  share  of  the  cost  of  the 
improvement,  and  when  they  have  made  their  report  the 
court  hears  objections  by  any  land-owner  to  the  amount 
charged  to  his  tract,  and  having  made  a  just  apportionment 
of  the  entire  cost  among  all  the  tracts  the  court  makes  an  order 
charging  each  tract  with  its  share,  and  that  amount  becomes 
a  lien  or  tax  against  the  tract,  and  must  be  paid,  and  if  not 
paid  the  land  may  be  sold.  The  entire  amount  is  not  due  in 
one  year;  it  is  usually  divided  into  twenty  equal  installments, 
and  one  is  payable  each  year,  and  they  are  collected  by  the 
county  collector.  The  board  of  supervisors  may  issue  bonds 
of  the  district,  in  an  amount  equal  to  ninety  per  cent  of  the 
amount  of  all  the  tax  assessments,  to  bear  not  to  exceed  six 
per  cent  interest,  and  sell  them  and  use  the  money  to  pay  for 
constructing  the  ditches  and  levees;  and  when  the  taxes  are 
paid  use  the  money  to  pay  off  and  retire  the  bonds.  All  con- 
struction work  is  done  under  contracts  entered  into  by  the 
board  of  supervisors  with  persons  specially  equipped  with 
proper  machinery  and  qualified  by  experience  for  doing  it.  The 
board  is  a  continuous  body,  and  after  those  appointed  by  the 
the  court  at  the  time  of  the  organization  have  served  the  time 
for  which  they  were  appointed,  their  successors  are  elected 
by  the  land-owners,  and  usually  each  owner  has  as  many 
votes  as  he  has  acres  of  land.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  board  to 
see  to  it  that  the  purposes  for  which  the  district  was  organized 
are  fully  carried  out,  and  that  the  ditches  are  kept  open  and 
repaired  and  breaches  in  the  levees  are  renewed. 

In  much  the  same  way  drainage  districts  may  be  organ- 
ized by  the  county  court. 

Questions  on  Chapter  VI. 

1.  What  is  a  county?     (268) 

2.  What  officers  has  it?     (268) 

3.  How  were  counties  organized?     (269) 

4.  What  is  the  county  seat?     (270) 


I 


COUNTIES.  337 

5.  How  is  the  county  court  composed?     (271) 

6.  What  is  it  charged  with  doing?     (271) 

7.  For  what  is  money  raised  by  taxation  used?     (271) 

8.  What  else  is  it  charged  with?     (271) 

9.  How  are  claims  against  a  county  paid?     (271) 

10.  Can  county  money  be  expended  at  the  will  of  officers?     (271) 

11.  What  has  the  court  to  do  with  elections?     (271) 

12.  What  other  duties  does  it  perform?     (271) 

13.  What  are  the  duties  of  the  county  clerk?     (272) 

14.  What  are  his  duties  in  reference  to  elections?     (1^72) 

15.  How  are  taxes  collected?     (273) 

16.  What  is  done  with  the  taxes  after  they  are  collected?     (274) 

17.  How  are  they  paid  out?     (274) 

18.  How  are  they  paid  out  in  counties  having  township  organiza- 

tion?    (274) 

19.  What  about  settlements  of  these  officers?     (274) 

20.  What  are  the  duties  of  the  assessor?     (275) 

21.  Tell  how  he  does  this.     (275) 

22.  What  if  the  owner  refuses  to  list  his  property?     (275) 

23.  Suppose  he  makes  a  false  list?     (275) 

24.  Suppose  he  refuses  to  make  oath  to  his  list?     (275) 

25.  When  the  assessor  has  completed  his  assessment,  what  is  done? 

(275) 

26.  Suppose  the  State  board  changes  the  valuation  of  the  county 

board?      (275) 

27.  What  does  the  county  court  then  do?     (275) 

28.  What  must  the  clerk  then  do?     (275) 

29.  How  are  railroads,  etc.,  assessed?     (275) 

30.  How  often  and  as  of  what  date  is  property  assessed?     (275) 

31.  What  are  the  duties  of  the  circuit  clerk?     (276) 

32.  What  is  the  sheriff  and  what  does  he  do?     (277) 

33.  What  is  said  of  the  prosecuting  attorney?     (278) 

34.  What  are  the  duties  of  the  recorder  of  deeds?     (279) 

35.  And  of  the  surveyor?     (280) 

36.  To  whom  are  letters  of  administration  granted?     (281) 

37.  If  there  are  no  such  relatives  who  administers  the  estate?     (281) 

38.  What  are  the  duties  of  the  coroner?     (282) 

39.  What  is  said  of  the  compensation  of  county  officers?     (283) 

40.  What  is  said  of  municipal  townships?     (284) 

41.  What  is  said  of  township  organization?     (285) 

42.  What  is  the  maximum  rate  of  taxation  for  county  current  expenses? 

(286) 
22 


338  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

43.  What  is  the  rate  in  your  county? 

44.  Can  the  court  levy  other  taxes  to  pay  debts?     (286) 

45.  For  what  purposes  and  how  may  a  county  incur  debts?     (286) 
,46.  Can  it  now  incur  a  debt  to  build  a  railroad? 

47.  What  can  the  debt  now  exceed?     (286) 

48.  What  is  one  great  benefit  of  free  government?     (286a) 

49.  Give  the  illustration  showing  this?     (286a) 

50.  Is  the  use  of  farming  machinery  a  community  matter?     (286a) 

51.  Is  the  construction  of  good  roads  a  community  interest?     How 

far  is  it  such?     (286a) 

52.  In  connection  with  this  section  reread  section  160b. 

53.  Are   good   roads   important?     Why?     (286a) 

54.  In  what  way  do  they  help  rural  and  city  dwellers?     (286a) 

55.  What  is  a  primary  element  of  prosperous  trade?     (286a) 

56.  Give  the  main  features  of  the  general  or  first  plan  of  working  roads? 

(286a) 

57.  The  second?     The  third?     The  fourth?     The  fifth?     (286a) 

58.  Why  is  a  drainage  district  an   important  community  interest? 

(286b) 

59.  Read  carefully  what  is  said  about  the  formation  of  a  drainage  dis- 

trict, how  the  costs  of  drains  and  levees  are  apportioned  and  paid 
etc.     (286b) 


CHAPTER  VII. 

CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES. 

'287.  Whence  Powers  are  Derived. — In  furtherance  of 
the  principle  of  local  self-government  the  State  Constitu- 
tion requires  the  General  Assembly  to  provide,  by  general 
laws,  for  the  organization  and  classification  of  cities  and  towns. 
The  powers  of  the  Legislature  are  in  some  very  important 
respects  limited  and  restricted  by  the  Constitution;  and  in 
a  much  more  definite  sense  the  powers  of  city  governments 
are  limited  and  defined  by  statutes  enacted  by  the  Legislature. 
A  city  or  town  can  legally  exercise  no  power  except  such  as 
is  given  it  by  the  General  Assembly.  Thiat  power  is  expressed 
in  statutes  enacted  by  the  Legislature,  and  those  statutes 
constitute  the  city's  charter.  But  even  the  Legislature  can- 
not enact  just  any  statute  for  the  government  of  cities  it  may 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES.  339 

wish  to  enact,  for  the  Constitution  places  limitations  upon 
its  powers.  For  instance,  the  Constitution  says  that  taxes 
for  city  purposes  cannot  exceed  a  certain  number  of  cents  on 
the  hundred  dollar's  valuation  of  property  within  the  city, 
and  the  Legislature  could  not  enact  a  statute  authorizing  the 
city  to  levy  a  higher  rate  of  taxation. 

Nor  must  it  be  forgotten  that  county  and  state  authority 
extends  over  cities  and  towns  just  as  much  as  over  any  rural 
district.  The  township  in  which  is  a  city  has  the  same  officers 
as  any  other  township,  such  as  justice  of  the  peace  and  con- 
stable, and  city  property  is  taxable  for  state  and  county  pur- 
poses, just  as  are  farms  and  other  rural  property.  But  a  city 
has  certain  officers  whose  authority  does  not  extend  beyond 
the  city  limits.  They  perform  duties  pertaining  to  the  city 
alone.  They  are  mayor,  board  of  aldermen,  clerk,  collector, 
treasurer,  assessor,  police  judge  and  marshal  in  the  smaller 
cities,  and  yet  other  officers  in  the  larger  cities. 

288.  Necessity  for  City  Government. — It  is  neces- 
sary to  have  local  officers  to  look  after  the  affairs  of  a  town. 
Wherever  men  congregate  there  is  danger  of  disorder.  Po- 
licemen and  marshals  are  needed  to  preserve  the  peace,  and 
to  quickly  suppress  the  vicious  and  lawless  persons  that  often 
gather  about  towns.  Besides,  streets,  sidewalks  and  sewers 
must  be  constructed,  lights  and  water  provided^  nuisances 
abated  and  fires  prevented.  The  county  court  can  provide 
for  none  of  these  things.  It  is,  therefore,  to  promote  the  gen- 
eral welfare  of  the  people  that  city  government  is  established. 

289.  Incorporation. — Before  the  adoption  of  the  pres- 
ent Constitution  the  inhabitants  of  a  particular  town, 
desiring  to  organize  as  a  city,  applied  to  the  Legislature  for 
a  special  charter  defining  the  powers  of  the  city  and  its  terri- 
torial boundaries.  And  as  the  Constitution  prohibits  the 
passage  of  any  law  that  violates  vested  rights,  either  of  a 
private  citizen  or  of  any  corporation,  some  cities  yet  have 
these  special  charters.     They  cannot  be  taken  from  them, 


340  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

but  may  voluntarily  be  surrendered  by  a  majority  of  the 
voters,  and  the  city  reorganized  under  the  general  statute, 
and  that  in  all  except  a  few  cases  has  been  done. 

But  a  city  cannot  be  incorporated  by  a  special  charter 
from  the  Legislature  under  the  present  Constitution.  That 
instrument  directed  the  enactment  of  a  general  law  under 
which  cities  should  be  classified  and  organized  according  to 
the  number  of  their  inhabitants.  The  same  powers  are  given 
by  the  statute  to  each  city  of  the  same  class,  and  that  statute 
is  its  charter,  or  governmental  chart. 

Whenever  an  unorganized  city  or  town  wishes  to  organ- 
ize so  as  to  have  a  city  government,  a  petition  is  signed  by 
the  majority  of  its  taxable  inhabitants  and  presented  to  the 
county  court.  The  court  enters  on  its  records  an  order  de- 
claring such  a  city  incorporated,  declaring  its  class,  de- 
fining its  boundaries,  and  designating  its  first  set  of  officers, 
who  hold  office  until  the  time  of  the  next  regular  election 
for  all  cities  of  its  class,  as  fixed  by  law,  and  thereafter  most 
of  its  officers  are  elected  by  the  people. 

290.  How  Governed. — Cities  are  governed  by  ordi- 
nances passed  by  the  city  council.  These  ordinances  pre- 
scribe the  duties  of  each  officer,  and  undertake  to  punish  only 
such  crimes  as  may  be  classed  as  misdemeanors.  But  there 
are  other  ordinances  defining  the  width  of  the  streets,  direct- 
ing the  making  of  sidewalks,  defining  the  limits  in  which 
wooden  houses  may  be  constructed,  and  prescribing  rules 
for  the  control  of  light  plants  and  waterworks,  sewers  and 
street  railways  and  the  management  of  parks. 

291.  Classes. — Cities  in  Missouri  are  divided  into  four 
classes,  according  to  population.  All  cities  having  five  hun- 
dred inhabitants  and  not  more  than  three  thousand,  are 
cities  of  the  fourth  class  or  lowest  class;  those  having  three 
thousand  inhabitants  and  less  than  thirty  thousand,  are  cities 
of  the  third  class;  those  having  thirty  thousand  inhabitants 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES.  341 

and  less  than  one  hundred  thousand,  are  cities  of  the  second 
class;  and  those  having  one  hundred  thousand  inhabitants 
or  more,  are  cities  of  the  first  class,  and  all  cities  having 
between  seventy-five  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
inhabitants  may  elect  to  become  a  city  of  the  first  class. 
These  classes  differ  in  the  powers  delegated  to  each,  the  higher 
the  class  the  greater  its  privileges.  A  city  of  one  class  having 
the  requisite  population  may  become  one  of  a  higher  class 
when  a  majority  of  its  legal  voters  ratify  an  ordinance  mak- 
ing such  change. 

292.  Cities  of  Fourth  Class. — There  are  over  two  hun- 
dred cities  in  Missouri  belonging  to  the  fourth  class.  Each 
has  the  officers  named  in  the  first  section  of  this  chapter. 
The  mayor  is  the  chief  executive  officer.  He  exercises  su- 
pervision over  all  other  officers,  appoints  its  minor  officers, 
and  may  with  the  board  of  aldermen  remove  from  office  any 
officer,  for  cause,  after  a  hearing.  An  ordinance  cannot  be- 
come operative  unless  it  receives  his  approval,  but  if  vetoed 
by  him,  it  may  be  passed  by  two-thirds  of  the  members 
of  the  council  notwithstanding  his  veto,  and  it  then  becomes 
a  law  and  can  be  enforced,  if  not  in  violation  of  the  city's 
charter. 

These  are  the  general  powers  of  mayors  in  cities  of  every 
class. 

293.  Board  of  Aldermen. — Each  city  of  the  fourth 
class  is  divided  into  not  less  than  two  wards,  and  from  each 
ward  the  people  elect  two  aldermen,  and  the  whole  number 
of  such  aldermen  is  called  the  board  of  aldermen.  This 
board  enacts  ordinances  for  the  city,  allows  accounts  against 
the  city,  requires  a  settlement  from  each  officer,  fixes  the 
rate  of  city  taxes,  contracts  with  companies  to  construct 
electric  and  gas  light  plants,  or,  when  authorized  by  two- 
thirds  of  its  voters,  constructs  such  plants  at  the  expense 
of  the  city,  and  otherwise  controls  the  city's  affairs.     In 


342  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

cities  of  a  higher  class  some  of  these  duties  are  performed  by 
a  comptroller  and  board  of  public  service. 

294.  The  Marshal  is  the  chief  police  officer  of  cities  of 
the  fourth  class.  It  is  his  duty  to  preserve  order  on  the 
streets  and  see  that  they  are  not  obstructed,  to  make  arrests, 
and  watch  the  conduct  of  suspected  persons.  He  can  arrest 
any  person  he  may  observe  violating  the  ordinances,  and  all 
other  persons  against  whom  a  warrant  has  been  issued. 

295.  The  Police  Judge  issues  warrants  for  the  arrest 
of  persons  charged  with  misdemeanors.  When  any  person 
is  brought  before  him  by  a  marshal  or  a  policeman,  charged 
with  having  violated  a  city  ordinance,  he  may  have  a  jury 
called  to  try  him,  or  if  a  jury  be  waived  the  police  judge  alone 
may  try  him.  A  person  convicted  of  crime  he  may  commit 
to  jail  unless  his  fine  is  paid  or  an  appeal  is  taken  to  the  cir- 
cuit  (or  criminal)  court. 

Where  the  ordinances  of  a  city  have  not  created  a  police 
jiidge  his  duties  are  performed  by  the  mayor. 

296.  Duties  of  Other  Officers. — The  duties  to  be  per- 
formed by  the  clerk,  assessor,  collector  and  treasurer  are 
similar  to  those  required  of  the  county  officers  of  the  same 
name,  except  that  the  clerk  transcribes  all  ordinances  into 
the  general  ordinance  book,  and  he  is  elected  by  the  board 
of  aldermen,  and  not  by  the  people,  as  are  other. city  officers. 

The  term  of  all  the  officers  of  cities  of  the  fourth  class 
is  two  years,  but  one-half  the  aldermen  are  elected  each  year. 

297.  Cities  of  the  Third  Class  have  a  few  more  privi- 
leges than  those  of  the  fourth  class.  More  policemen  may  be 
provided  for,  and  the  city  may  build  a  hospital,  construct  a 
system  of  sewerage,  enforce  regulations  to  prevent  the  spread 
of  contagious  diseases,  and  fix  the  rates  that  telephone  and 
electric  light  and  street  railway  companies  may  charge  for 
any  service  rendered  by  them,  and  if  those  rates  are  approved 
by  the  Public  Service  Commission  of  the  State  they  become 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND   VILLAGES.  343 

binding  on  the  companies  and  the  city  and  its  inhabitants. 
Their  affairs  are  regulated  by  a  council  composed  of  two 
councilmen  from  each  ward,  and  the  entire  number  of  wards 
cannot  be  less  than  four. 

For  every  city  of  ten  thousand  inhabitants  or  more,  the 
State  provides  factory  inspectors,  whose  duty  it  is  to  inspect 
all  large  factories,  and  see  that  the  laws  are  obeyed  which 
require  healthful  conditions,  that  children  under  fourteen 
years  of  age  are  not  permitted  to  work  therein,  that  children 
between  the  ages  of  fourteen  and  sixteen  years  are  not  re- 
quired to  work  more  than  forty -eight  hours  a  week,  and  that 
seats  and  other  conveniences  are  provided  for  women  work- 
ing therein. 

298.  Cities"  of  the  Second  Class  have  still  greater  priv- 
ileges. They  make  more  rigid  ordinances  to  prevent  fires,  may 
sell  real  property  for  taxes,  may  control  the  construction 
of  street  railways  and  may  establish  rigid  sanitary  regula- 
tions. Their  legislative  powers  are  vested  in  a  common 
council,  composed  of  one  councilman  from  each  ward  and  a 
president  of  the  council,  all  of  whom  are  elected  by  the  city 
at  large  for  a  term  of  four  years,  one-half  the  councilmen  be- 
ing chosen  every  two  years,  and  the  other  half  two  years  later. 
There  are  as  many  councilmen  as  there  are',wards,  and  one  is 
chosen  for  each  ward,  who  must  reside  in  that  ward,  but  he 
is  elected  by  the  city  at  large — that  is,  all  the  legal  voters  of 
the  city  may  vote  for  candidates  for  councilman  for  that 
ward,  and  the  one  who  receives  the  highest  number  of  such 
votes  is  elected.  Joplin  and  Springfield  are  the  only  cities 
belonging  to  this  class. 

What  is  said  in  section  297  and  this  section  is  true  of 
cities  of  the  third  and  second  class  unless  they  have  elected 
to  adopt  commission  formof  government ;  but  if  they  have 
chosen  to  do  that  they  are  governed  by  what  is  said  in  the 
next  section. 


344  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

298a.  Commission  Form  of  Government. — The  stat- 
utes authorize  a  city  of  the  second  or  third  class  by  a  majority 
vote  of  its  people,  to  adopt  what  is  popularly  called  "com- 
mission form  of  government."  The  form  is  prescribed  by 
statutes  enacted  by  the  Legislature. 

In  a  city  of  the  second  class  which  has  adopted  the  form, 
there  is  a  mayor  and  four  commissioners,  and  they  constitute 
the  city  council,  and  the  chief  executive  officers  as  well.  As 
the  council  they  enact  ordinances  for  the  government  of  the 
city;  and  as  executive  officers,  each  is  at  the  head  of  an  ad- 
ministrative department.  The  mayor  is  commissioner  of 
the  department  of  public  affairs  and  safety,  and  as  such  has 
supervision  over  the  police  and  fire  departments;  another 
member  of  the  council  is  commissioner  of  public  health  and 
sanitation;  another  is  commissioner  of  revenue,  and  as  such 
has  charge  of  assessing,  collecting  and  paying  out  city  taxes; 
another  is  commissioner  of  public  utilities,  and  as  such  has 
supervision  over  light  plants,  waterworks,  street  railways 
and  city  properties  and  parks;  and  another  is  commissioner 
of  streets  and  as  such  has  supervision  over  streets  and  side- 
walks and  their  construction.  These  are  all  elected  by  the 
people,  as  is  also  a  municipal  judge,  before  whom  are  tried 
persons  charged  with  violating  the  city  ordinances.  They 
are  nominated  at  a  primary  election — not  by  parties,  but  on 
a  general  ticket.  All  persons  who  wish  to  be  elected  mayor, 
for  instance,  must  file  papers  with  the  city  clerk  stating  they 
desire  to  become  candidates  for  that  office;  then  all  their 
names  are  printed  in  one  group  on  the  same  ticket,  and  on 
pri  mary  day  each  voter  strikes  off  the  names  of  all  of  them 
except  one,  and  the  names  of  the  two  who  receive  the  high- 
est number  of  votes  are  printed  on  the  same  ticket  for  use 
on  election  day,  as  the  candidates  nominated  for  mayor,  and 
then  the  voters  choose  between  those  two.  The  other  com- 
missioners are  nominated  and  elected  in  the  same  way. 
These  commissioners  all  receive  good  salaries  and  are  sup- 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES.  345 

posed  to  devote  a  great  deal  of  time  to  the  city's  business.  If 
any  one  of  them  does  not  perform  his  duties  with  satisfaction 
he  may  be  removed  by  the  people,  and  that  is  done  in  this  way : 
one-fourth  of  the  voters  sign  a  petition  demanding  his  re- 
call and  file  it  with  the  clerk;  then  the  council  must  call 
a  special  election  to  determine  the  matter,  and  if  a  majority 
of  the  votes  cast  thereat  are  for  his  removal  he  must  vacate 
the  office. 

The  council  appoints  a  city  clerk,  and  may  remove  him 
at  its  pleasure.  The  mayor  appoints  a  city  attorney  and 
chief  of  police,  and  may  remove  them  at  his  pleasure;  the 
commissioner  of  public  health  appoints  a  city  physician,  who 
also  may  be  removed  at  pleasure.  Each  commissioner  may 
appoint  as  many  assistants  and  laborers  as  the  council  may 
deem  necessary  for  the  proper  performance  of  his  official 
duties,  but  each  must  be  selected  from  three  persons  who  have 
stood  the  best  examination  before  a  non-partisan  civil  ser- 
vice commission. 

The  cpuncil  may  enact  laws  on  many  subjects,  but  upon 
the  petition  of  one-tenth  of  the  voters  an  ordinance  granting 
a  franchise  to  construct  a  street  railway  or  to  lay  water  pipes 
or  to  erect  a  lighting  system  in  the  streets  must  be  submitted 
to  the  legal  voters  and  if  not  approved  by  a  majority  of  them 
voting  on  the  subject  it  fails.  In  much  the  same  way  the 
people  may  propose  ordinances  themselves  and  have  them 
submitted  to  the  legal  voters  and  if  approved  by  them  they 
become  legal  enactments. 

In  cities  of  the  third  class  which  have  adopted  the  com- 
mission form  of  government,  the  council  consists  of  the  mayor 
and  two  councilmen  in  cities  having  less  than  twelve  thou- 
sand inhabitants,  and  of  the  mayor  and  three  councilmen  in 
cities  having  between  twelve  and  twenty  thousand,  and  of 
th  <  mayor  and  four  councilmen  in  cities  having  between 
twenty  and  thirty  thousand  inhabitants.  They  are  nomi- 
nated at  primaries  on  non-partisan  tickets,  and  elected  by 


346  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

the  legal  voters,  just  as  the  mayor  and  commissioners  in  a 
city  of  the  second  class  are.  This  council  enacts  ordinances 
for  the  government  of  the  city,  and  each  member  of  it  is  the 
head  of  one  or  more  of  the  five  executive  departments  of  the 
city,  and  as  such  they  supervise  the  construction  and  main- 
tenance of  streets  and  sidewalks,  of  waterworks  and  public 
lights,  of  sewers  and  parks,  of  assessing  and  collecting  taxes, 
and  of  all  other  city  business.  These  officers  may  be  recalled 
by  the  people  when  they  do  not  prove  satisfactory,  and  the 
people  may  use  the  principle  of  the  initiative  in  enacting  or- 
dinances or  the  principle  of  the  referendum  in  nullifying  or- 
dinances which  the  council  have  attempted  to  enact. 

The  purpose  of  the  commission  form  is  to  take  politics 
out  of  city  govenment,  put  a  stop  to  waste,  and  make  it  more 
efficient  and  useful  and  more  responsive  to  the  wishes  of  the 
people.  It  is  being  tried  in  various  states,  in  small  as  well 
as  large  cities,  but  has  nob  yet  been  tried  for  a  sufficient 
length  of  time  to  fully  demonstrate  that  it  is  the  means 
through  which  this  purpose  may  be  accomplished^ 

299.  Cities  of  the  First  Class. — A  city  of  this  class  has 
the  power  to  establish  and  own  cemeteries,  parks,  water- 
works, gas  and  electric  light  plants  and  hospitals,  to  abate 
nuisances,  and  to  enforce  rigid  regulations  against  the  spread 
of  contagious  diseases.  It  has  power  to  enact  ordinances 
regulating  the  use  of  streets,  stockyards,  wharfs,  slaughter- 
houses, vehicles,  and  to  provide  all  needful  regulations  for 
orderly  city  government.  Many  of  these  powers  are  pos- 
sessed by  cities  of  all  other  classes,  and  the  Legislature  is  con- 
stantly adding  to  the  powers  which  cities  may  exercise.  The 
ordinances  of  a  city  of  the  first  class  are  enacted  by  a  common 
council,  composed  of  five  councilmen,  elected  from  the  citv 
at  large,  each  for  four  years,  two  for  one  year  and  theotherthree 
two  years  later.  One  of  them  is  president  of  the  council,  who 
in  the  absence  of  the  mayor  performs  the  duties  of  that  offi- 
cer.    There  are  a  city  assessor,  counsellor,  comptroller  and 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES.  347 

license  inspector,  appointed  by  the  mayor,  who  has  power  to 
remove  them  for  cause,  after  notice  and  a  hearing.  There 
are  also  a  city  auditor,  treasurer  and  judge  of  the  police  court, 
elected  by  the  voters  for  a  term  of  two  years.  There  is  also 
a  strong  force  of  policemen,  who  are  under  the  control  of 
commissioners  appointed  by  the  Governor. 

St.  Joseph  is  the  only  city  in  the  State  that  strictly  be- 
longs to  this  class.  Kansas  City  and  St.  Louis  each  have  a 
sufficient  number  of  inhabitants  to  belong  to  such  class — one 
hundred  thousand — but  both  have  been  organized  under 
special  charters  pertaining  to  them  alone.  In  both  of  them, 
however,  as  in  cities  of  the  first  class,  the  law  provides  for  a 
system  of  registration  of  voters,  by  which  lists  of  voters  by ' 
wards  and  precincts  are  made  a  few  weeks  in  advance  of  an 
election,  and  then  no  person  who  has  not  so  registered  can 
vote. 

300.  Kansas  City. — Under  the  Constitution  a  city 
having  more  than  one  hundred  thousand  inhabitants  may 
frame  a  charter  for  itself,  and  when  this  is  adopted  by  four- 
sevenths  of  its  qualified  voters,  it  supersedes  any  existing 
charter,  and  may  itself  be  amended  at  any  subsequent  time 
by  an  ordinance  adopted  by  a  vote  of  the  people.  But  such 
charter  must  always  be  in  harmony  with  and  subject  to  the 
Constitution  and  laws  of  the  State.  Under  this  provision 
and  an  enabling  act  of  the  Legislature,  Kansas  City  was  or- 
ganized with  a  new  charter  in  1889.  There  is  a  Common 
Council  of  two  houses,  called  the  Upper  House  and  the  Lower 
House.  The  Upper  House  consists  of  as  many  members  as 
there  are  wards,  and  they  are  elected  by  the  voters  of  the 
city  at  large.  The  Lower  House  consists  of  one  member 
from  each  ward  elected  by  the  people  thereof.  An  ordinance 
to  be  in  force  in  the  city  must  be  passed  by  each  house  and 
be  approved  by  the  mayor.  The  police  department  of  the 
city  is  managed  by  a  board  of  police  commissioners,  com- 
posed of  the  mayor,  and  two  commissioners  appointed  by  the 


348  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

Governor.  This  board  appoints  policemen  and  controls  and 
regulates  the  duties  and  discipline  of  all  peace  officers  of 
the  city. 

301.  City  of  St.  Louis.— Prior  to  1876  the  city  of  St. 
Louis  was  a  part  of  St.  Louis  County.  But  in  that  year  so 
much  of  the  county  as  was  embraced  within  the  city  was  set 
off  to  itself,  and  city  and  county  government  in  the  city  was 
consolidated.  That  was  done  in  pursuance  to  what  was 
known  as  the  Scheme  and  Charter,  provided  for  by  the  Con- 
stitution, which  authorized  the  city  to  frame  and  adopt  a 
charter  for  its  own  government.  The  city  does  not  have  a 
county  court,  but  it  has  circuit  judges,  a  sheriff,  recorder  of 
•  deeds,  circuit  attorney,  prosecuting  attorney,  circuit  clerk, 
probate  judge,  collector  and  public  administrator,  all  of  whom 
are  elected  at  the  general  elections  held  in  November,  and  per- 
form duties  similar  to  those  performed  by  officers  of  the  same 
title  in  other  parts  of  the  State. 

In  1914  thirteen  citizens,  appointed  for  the  purpose, 
framed  a  new  charter,  which  was  adopted  by  the  legal  voters 
at  a  special  election,  and  under  the  Constitution  it  became  the 
chart  by  which  the  government  and  ordinances  of  the  city 
are  shaped.  It  provides  for  the  election  by  the  people 
of  a  mayor  and  a  comptroller,  each  for  a  term  of  four  years. 
It  also  provides  for  a  board  of  aldermen,  consisting  of  a 
president,  and  one  alderman  from  each  ward,  elected  on 
a  general  ticket  by  the  city  at  large,  each  for  a  term  of  four 
years,  one-half  of  them  being  elected  every  two  years.  This 
board  has  but  one  house  and  constitutes  the  city's  legislative 
assembly.  The  mayor  and  comptroller  have  seats  and  a 
voice,  but  no  vote,  in  the  board.  The  people  also  have  power, 
through  initiative  petitions,  to  propose  ordinances  and  amend- 
ments to  the  charter,  and  have  them  adopted  by  a  majority 
of  the  legal  voters,  and  an  ordinance  so  adopted  cannot  be 
repealed  by  the  board  of  aldermen  except  by  two-thirds  of 
its  members.     And  in  much  the  same  way  the  people  can 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES.  349 

compel  ordinances  enacted  by  the  board  to  be  referred  to 
them  for  approval  or  rejection.  And  upon  the  filing  of 
petitions  signed  by  twenty  per  cent  of  the  voters,  any  of  the 
elective  officers  may  be  removed  by  a  majority  of  the  voters 
at  a  special  election  held  for  that  purpose. 

The  mayor  appoints  an  assessor,  treasurer,  city 
counsellor  and  other  officers,  and  may  remove  them  for 
inefficiency  or  neglect  of  official  duty.  The  comptroller  is 
at  the  head  of  the  finance  department,  and  the 'assessor,  col- 
lector and  treasurer  are  each  in  charge  of  a  subdivision  of 
that  department,  and  as  such  look  after  the  assessment 
and  collection  of  taxes  and  the  paying  out  of  the 
city's  money.  There  is  also  a  board  of  public  service, 
composed  of  a  president  and  four  directors  appointed 
by  the  mayor,  each  of  whom  is  at  the  head  of  one 
of  the  great  administrative  departments  of  the  city 
government.  They  have  charge  of  the  construction  and 
repair  of  streets  and  sidewalks,  parks  and  boulevards, 
sewers  and  waterworks,  hospitals  and  other  public  buildings. 
They  exercise  supervision  over  the  construction  and  opera- 
tion of  street  railways,  lights  and  telephones;  see  to  it  that 
the  streets  are  kept  clean  and  the  public  water  pure;  in- 
vestigate the  causes  of  diseases,  and,  through  their  numerous 
assistants,  perform  many  other  duties  for  the  public. 

The  police,  consisting  of  sergeants,  captains,  lieutenants, 
patrolmen,  turnkeys  and  detectives — there  being  about  2000 
officers  in  all  the  grades — are  appointed  by  and  are  under  the 
control  of  a  board  consisting  of  the  mayor  and  four  com- 
missioners appointed  by  the  Governor.  The  salaries  of  these 
policemen  are  fixed  by  statutes  enacted  by  the  Legislature, 
but  are  paid  by  the  city.  The  entire  expense  of  the  police 
force  is  about  two  million  dollars  a  year. 

Elections  are  under  the  control  of  a  board  of  election 
commissioners  appointed  by  the  Governor.  The  judges  and 
clerks  appointed  by  this  board  have  charge  of  the  registra- 


350  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

tion  of  voters  and  the  casting^of  votes  at  every  precinct  at 
all  elections,  state  and  city. 

There  is  also  an  excise  commissioner  appointed  by  the 
Governor,  who  has  power  to  grant  and  revoke  dramshop 
licenses. 

302.  Villages.— The  statutes  provide  methods  by  which 
any  town  of  less  than  five  hundred  inhabitants  may  be  or- 
ganized as  a  village.  When  a  petition  signed  by  two-thirds 
of  its  taxable  inhabitants  is  presented  to  the  county  court,  it 
can  declare  such  village  incorporated,  with  defined  bound- 
aries. The  powers  and  duties  of  village  government  are  vest- 
ed in  a  board  of  five  trustees,  and  the  first  board  is  appointed 
by  the  county  court  at  the  time  the  village  by  its  order  is  de- 
clared to  be  incorporated,  and  they  hold  office  until  their 
successors  are  elected  at  the  April  election.  The  trustees 
enact  ordinances  providing  for  the  improvement  of  streets 
and  sidewalks,  for  abating  nuisances  and  suppressing  dis- 
orders, for  levying  and  collecting  village  taxes,  and  for  ex- 
tending the  town's  boundaries;  and  have  power  to  appoint  a 
treasurer,  assessor,  collector,  and  a  constable  or  marshal. 
When  the  number  of  the  inhabitants  reach  five  hundred,  the 
village,  by  a  majority  vote  of  its  voters,  may  become  a  city 
of  the  fourth  class. 

303.  Elections. — The  state  statutes  fix  the  time  for 
holding  elections  for  city  officers  in  all  cities  except  those  or- 
ganized under  special  charter.  The  date  is  not  the  same 
■throughout  the  State.  In  the  most  of  the  cities  it  is  the  first 
Tuesday  in  April;  in  the  rest,  it  is  the  first  Tuesday  after  the 
first  Monday  in  April.  All  other  elections  are  called  special 
and  are  held  (usually)  at  such  time  as  the  council  may  direct. 

304.  Extending  City  Limits. — A  city  of  any  class  has 
the  power  to  extend  its  limits  indefinitely,  and  take  within 
the  corporation  as  much  of  the  surrounding  country  as  it 
desires,  except  that  one  city  cannot  include  another  within 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES.  351 

its  boundaries  unless  the  legal  voters  thereof  consent.  The 
extension  is  made  by  the  mayor  and  council,  but  in  cities  of 
the  third  or  fourth  class  they  can  do  so  only  when  a  majority 
of  the  voters  consent,  but  in  cities  of  the  first  and  second 
class  the  limits  may  be  extended  by  the  mayor  and  council 
alone  without  the  consent  of  the  voters.  The  inhabitants 
of  the  added  territory  have  no  voice  in  this  extension,  unless 
the  new  addition  includes  a  part  of  another  incorporated 
town,  in  which  case  four-sevenths  of  the  voters  thereof  must 
consent  to  be  added  to  the  city  before  such  extension  can  be 
made. 

305.  City  Assessors. — In  cities  of  the  first  class  there 
is  an  assessor  who  values  and  assesses  all  property  within 
the  city  for  purposes  of  city  taxation.  The  process  is  very 
much  the  same  as  is  the  assessment  of  taxes  for  county  pur- 
poses. The  city  assessor  places  a  value  on  each  piece  of  prop- 
erty and  lists  it  in  proper  books,  and  these  are  turned  over  to  the 
clerk,  and  he  gives  notice  that  any  person  dissatisfied  may 
come  before  the  board  of  appeals  and  have  the  injustice  cor- 
rected. Then  the  board  of  appeals,  consisting  of  the  mayor, 
the  comptroller  and  the  president  of  the  council,  equalizes 
the  valuations  made  by  the  assessor,  and  increases  or  dimin- 
ishes them  as  may  seem  just,  and  then  the  council  fixes  the 
tax  rate,  and  the  city  clerk  * 'extends  the  taxes"  or  makes  up 
the  tax  book,  and  turns  it  over  to  the  collector,  who  proceeds 
to  collect  the  city  taxes. 

In  cities  of  the  second  class  the  valuation  of  all  proper- 
ties in  the  city  made  by  the  county  assessor,  as  corrected  by 
the  county  board  of  equalization,  is  adopted  by  the  city  as  its 
own,  and  is  used  as  the  basis  for  the  levy  of  city  taxes. 

In  cities  of  the  third  class  the  city  assessor  and  the 
county  (or  township)  assessor  make  the  assessment  together, 
and  then  when  the  county  board  of  equalization  meets 
the  mayor  and  city  assessor  meet  with  them  and  help  adjust 
the  valuations  of  all  property  within  the  city,  and  then  the 


352  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

valuations  as  made  by  that  board  become  the  valuations  of 
all  property  within  the  city  for  both  county  and  city  pur- 
poses. 

In  cities  of  the  fourth  class  there  may  or  may  not  be  a 
city  assessor.  If  the  city  prefers,  it  need  not  have  such  of- 
ficer. If  it  does  not,  the  valuations  as  finally  fixed  by  the 
county  board  of  equalization  become  the  valuations  for  city 
purposes.  If  the  city  have  an  assessor  of  its  own,  he  and  the 
county  (or  township)  assessor  assess  the  property  together, 
and  then  the  valuations  as  fixed  by  the  county  board  of 
equalization  become  those  for  the  purposes  of  city  taxation. 

306.  Rate  of  Taxation. — In  addition  to  taxes  levied 
for  the  support  of  the  county  and  state  government  and  for 
public  schools,  the  inhabitants  of  a  city  must  also  pay  taxes 
for  maintaining  the  city  government.  In  cities  having  less 
than  one  thousand  inhabitants  the  rate  of  taxation  cannot, 
for  ordinary  city  purposes,  exceed  twenty-five  cents  on  the 
hundred  dollars  valuation;  in  cities  having  between  one 
thousand  and  ten  thousand  inhabitants  the  rate  cannot  ex- 
ceed fifty  cents  on  the  hundred  dollars;  in  cities  having  ten 
thousand  inhabitants  and  less  than  thirty  thousand  the  rate 
cannot  exceed  sixty  cents  or  the  hundred  dollars;  and  in 
cities  of  more  than  thirty  thousand  inhabitants  the  rate  can- 
not exceed  one  hundred  cents  on  the  hundred  dollars  val- 
uation. 

In  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  since  the  city  and  county  gov- 
ernments are  there  consolidated,  the  city  may  levy  for  mu- 
nicipal purposes,  in  addition  to  one  hundred  cents  on  the 
hundred  dollars,  a  tax  rate  not  exceeding  the  rate  which  a 
county  having  thirty  million  dollars  of  property  or  more 
may  levy  for  county  purposes — that  is,  the  rate  for  city 
purposes  may  there  be  as  high  as  $1.35  on  each  hundred 
dollars  of  valuation. 

This  provision  in  the  Constitution  which  fixed  a  maxi- 
mum rate  of  taxation  for  city  purposes  is  of  the  greatest  im- 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES.  353 

portance.  Perhaps  there  is  not  a  county  court  or  city  council 
in  the  State  which  does  not  tax  the  people  the  highest  rate 
permitted  by  law,  and  it  was,  therefore,  a  wise  provision 
in  the  Constitution  which  fixed  a  mark  above  which  tax- 
ation cannot  rise. 

But  to  meet  the  cost  of  working  the  streets  the  cities 
are  authorized  to  levy  an  annual  poll  tax  of  two  or  three  dol- 
lars on  all  men  between  the  ages  of  eighteen  and  fifty  years. 
And  besides,  for  meeting  its  other  current  expenses  it  has 
the  power  to  charge  a  license  tax  on  persons  wishing  to  carry 
on  certain  kinds  of  business,  such  as  saloons,  peddlers  and 
auctioneers.  But  a  license  is  not  really  a  tax;  it  is  a  charge 
or  fee  for  the  privilege  of  doing  business. 

The  rates  stated  in  the  first  two  paragraphs  of  this  sec- 
tion are  the  rates  for  ordinary  current  expenses.  Those 
rates  for  those  purposes  cannot  be  exceeded  in  any  case.  But 
two-thirds  of  the  voters  of  the  city  may  authorize  the  city  to 
incur  a  debt  for  the  construction  of  waterworks,  light  plants, 
public  buildings,  public  sewers  and  in  some  cases  streets. 
But  again  the  Constitution  fixes  a  limit  to  the  amount  of 
debt  a  city  may  incur.  It  says  that  the  amount  of  the  city's 
entire  indebtedness  cannot  exceed  five  per  cent  of  the  assess- 
ed valuation  of  all  property  in  the  city,  except  that  a  city 
having  between  2,000  and  30,000  inhabitants  may  incur  an 
additional  debt  of  five  per  cent  for  constructing  or  purchas- 
ing waterworks  and  light  plants  to  be  owned  by  the  city. 
It  further  says  that  before  any  debt  can  be  created  for  any 
purpose  two- thirds  of  the  voters  at  a  special  election  must  con- 
sent thereto,  and  by  the  same  vote  they  must  authorize  the 
city  council  to  levy,  in  addition  to  the  taxes  for  ordinary  city 
expenses,  a  tax  sufficient  to  annually  pay  the  interest  on  the 
debt  and  the  debt  itself  within  twenty  years.  Thus  in  no 
case  can  the  city's  indebtedness  exceed  ten  per  cent,  and  in 
no  case  unless  it  owns  the  waterworks  or  light  plant  can  it 
exceed  five  per  cent.     But  it  cannot  be  stated  just  what  the 

23 


354  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI.- 

tax  rate  for  paying  the  debt  will  be.  That  will  depend  on  the 
amount  of  the  debt  and  the  entire  valuation  of  all  property 
in  the  city.  It  will  vary  with  the  years.  But  it  is  the  duty 
of  the  city  council  to  fix  it  at  such  an  amount  as  will  pay  the 
interest  annually  and  the  debt  itself  within  twenty  years 
after  it  was  created. 

307.  Benefit  Assessments. — ^The  taxes  discussed  in  the 
preceding  section  do  not  include  the  cost  of  constructing  side- 
walks or  sewers  or  paving  streets.  The  cost  of  construct- 
ing sidewalks  and  paving  streets  are  charged  against  the 
abutting  property-owner,  usually  in  proportion  to  the 
number  of  front  feet  he  has  fronting  on  the  street  or 
sidewalk  to  be  improved.  In  all  cities  the  cost  of  new 
sidewalks  is  charged  to  abutting  property.  In  cities  of 
one  or  two  classes  the  cost  of  grading  the  street  and  bringing 
it  to  a  general  level  are  paid  out  of  the  city  treasury,  and 
the  costs  of  paving  and  guttering  are  paid  by  the  abutting 
property-owners;  in  others,  the  entire  cost,  both  of  grading 
and  paving,  is  paid  by  the  property-owners.  The  costs  of 
a  public  sewer  (by  which  is  meant  a  general  or  main  sewer; 
a  sewer  which  drains  all  the  territory  of  the  city)  are  paid  by 
the  whole  city  out  of  its  general  taxes  or  revenue  in  the 
treasury ;  but  the  costs  of  district  sewers  are  charged  against 
real  estate  in  the  district  drained  by  them,  according  to  area, 
each  square  yard  being  charged  with  the  same  amount. 

These  charges  for  sidewalks,  streets  and  district  sewers 
are  not  the  taxes  referred  to  in  section  306.  They  are  not  in 
strict  sense  taxes  at  all,  although  they  are  usually  referred  to 
as  "special  taxes;"  they  are,  rather,  charges  for  benefits 
received  by  the  property  against  which  they  are  assessed, 
because,  it  is  assumed,  its  value  will  to  that  extent  be  increased 
by  the  public  improvement,  and  they  are  for  that  reason  often 
referred  to  as  **benefit  assessments."  The  money  paid  there- 
for cannot  be  used  for  the  purposes  for  which  money  received 
as  taxes  may  be  used,  that  is,  for  paying  any  of  the  ordi- 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES.  355 

nary  expenses  of  the  city,  but  it  can  be  used  only  for  the  pur- 
pose for  which  it  is  assessed — the  construction  of  the  side- 
walk, the  paving  of  the  street,  etc.  Sometimes  the  money 
does  not  go  into  the  city  treasury  at  all,  but  what  are  called 
^'special  tax  bills,"  indicating  the  amount  each  abutting 
property-owner  is  to  pay  as  his  share  of  the  cost  of  the  side- 
walk, street,  etc.,  are  issued  to  the  contractor  who  does  the 
work  in  payment  therefor,  and  then  he  has  the  right  to  have 
the  circuit  court  charge  the  amount  of  that  "special  tax  bill" 
against  the  property,  and  if  it  is  not  paid,  the  property  may 
be  sold  by  the  sheriff. 

The  city  council  (in  the  case  of  the  larger  cities,  on  the 
recommendation  of  other  officers  of  the  city)  has  the  right  to 
determine  when  a  new  sidewalk  is  needed  and  to  order  the 
work  to  be  done  and  how  and  of  what  material.  When  it 
has  done  that,  the  owner  of  the  property  may  put  it  down 
himself  within  a  certain  time,  and  if  he  fails  to  do  that  the 
city  will  have  it  done  and  charge  the  cost  up  to  him.  And  if 
the  improvement  is  the  macadamizing  or  paving  of  a  street 
or  the  construction  of  a  district  sewer,  the  city  contracts  with 
some  one  to  do  the  work  and  then  apportions  the  cost  among 
the  property-owners,  and  issues  special  tax  bills  for  the 
amount. 

308.  Police  Regulations. — ^As  a  city  grows  in  size  and 
density,  greater  care  must  be  taken  to  preserve  the  health 
and  morals  of  its  inhabitants.  The  closer  men  get  to  each 
other  th*i  more  likely  are  their  acts  to  transgress  upon  each 
other's  rights.  So  a  city  has  the  right  to  establish  reason- 
able regulations  over  those  acts  of  its  inhabitants  which 
may  affect  mutual  rights.  It  may  abate  nuisances,  establish 
quarantine  against  contagious  diseases,  prevent  pig  sties, 
dairies  and  slaughter-houses  within  the  corporate  limits,  for- 
bid the  throwing  of  slops  in  the  street  and  the  obstruction 
of  sidewalks  by  goods-boxes  and  shade  trees.  It  may,  in 
order  to  ward  off  disastrous  fires,  prevent  the  building  of 


356  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

wooden  houses  on  certain  blocks,  and  it  may  confine  livery 
stables  and  lumber  yards  to  certain  streets.  It  may  reg- 
ulate the  speed  of  trains,  street  cars,  horses  and  vehicles  with- 
in the  city  limits.  There  are  many  other  things  it  may  do  for 
preserving  the  health,  the  life,  the  peace  or  the  morals  of  the 
inhabitants.  Regulations  of  that  kind  are  called  "police  reg- 
ulations," and  the  police  powers  of  a  city  depend  on  the  class 
to  which  it  belongs — the  higher  the  class  the  greater  its  powers. 
But  no  city  can  exercise  any  power  of  this  kind  except  such 
as  is  specifically  given  it  by  its  charter,  and  even  then  it  can 
exercise  it  only   in  a  reasonable  way. 

308a.  Sanitation. — The  preservation  of  the  health  of 
its  inhabitants  is  a  primary  duty  of  a  city.  Good  health  is 
the  best  property  any  one  can  own;  it  is  a  property  without 
which  no  other  property,  however  large,  will  bring  any  last- 
ing satisfaction;  yet  it  is  a  property  which  if  once  lost  can 
seldom  be  fully  regained. 

Every  precaution  should  be  taken  to  protect  the  health 
of  the  inhabitants  of  a  city  or  rural  community.  Cleanli- 
ness is  the  great  remedy.  Impure  >vater,  impure  food,  veg- 
etable and  animal  matter  allowed  to  decay  on  the  back  ends 
of  lots  and  alleys,  the  hundreds  of  unclean  things  that  ac- 
cumulate on  streets  and  in  gutters,  the  filthy  habit  of  spit- 
ting on  sidewalks  and  in  other  public  places,  stagnant  water 
and  cesspools  on  vacant  lots,  the  refuse  from  stables,  facto- 
ries and  dwellings,  cause  typhoid  fever  and  tuberculosis  or 
consumption  and  generate  many  other  diseases.  And  to 
bring  about  cleanliness  there  must  be  co-operation  between 
families  and  the  city  government. 

Kitchens,  back  yards  and  stables  must  be  kept  clean. 
Cisterns  should  be  well  built,  arid  not  only  should  all  sur- 
face or  seepage  water  be  kept  out  of  them,  but  the  water 
should  be  filtered  or  in  some  other  way  made  pure;  and  if 
that  cannot  be  done,  the  water  should  be  boiled  before  it  is 
drunk.     These  duties  rest  upon  the  family. 


I 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES.  357 

On  the  other  hand,  certain  other  necessary  things  can 
be  done  only  by  the  city  government.  Underground  sew- 
ers, tight,  well-laid  and  ample  in  size,  are  of  great  value  to  a 
city,  for  they  carry  away  the  foul  waters,  and  thereby  the 
health  of  the  people  is  promoted.  Well-paved  streets  are 
not  only  convenient  for  travel  and  add  to  the  general  beauty 
of  a  town,  but  they  also  aid  sewers  in  quickly  carrying  off 
waters  before  they  become  infested  with  poisons,  and  thereby 
add  to  the  public  health,  for  the  pavement  makes  easier  the 
work  of  keeping  them  clean.  Better  water,  especially  in  a 
town  where  much  smoke  is  permitted  to  settle  on  roofs  and 
in  gutters  or  where  foul  birds  are  numerous,  can  usually  be 
obtained  from  a  general  water-works  system  than  from  cisterns 
or  wells;  but  to  be  pure  the  streams  or  wells  from  which  it  is 
taken  must  be  guarded  against  pollution,  and  it  must  often 
be  filtered  or  made  to  pass  through  numerous  settling 
basins,  and  there  must  be  no  openings  or  leaks  in  the 
mains  or  pipes.  The  streets  and  alleys  must  also  be 
cleaned,  if  the  town  is  to  be  healthy  and  the  air  sweet  and 
pure.  To  bring  about  a  general  condition  of  cleanliness, 
and  to  guard  against  the  spread  of  contagious  diseases, 
there  must  be,  especially  in  the  larger  cities,  a  board 
of  health,  and  often  a  city  physician,  to  enforce  health 
regulations. 

309.  City  Government  is  the  weak  part  of  American 
government.  In  no  other  are  honesty  and  efficiency  so  diffi- 
cult to  obtain.  In  no  other  are  taxes  so  often  wasted.  In  no 
other  is  injustice  so  often  done  to  the  property  owner.  In 
no  other  does  the  lawless,  the  idle,  the  mean  man  exert  such 
power.  In  no  other  is  it  so  difficult  to  get  upright  and  com- 
petent men  to  become  candidates  for  office.  In  no  other  are 
men  of  wealth  and  education  so  unwilling  to  exert  their 
influence  to  elect  to  office  efficient  and  capable  men,  or  to  be- 
come officers  themselves.  There  are  many  reasons  why  this 
is  true.     To  discuss  intelligently  these  reasons  would  far 


358  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

outrun  the  limits  of  a  book  like  this.  But  the  remedy  is  at 
present  largely  in  the  hands  of  the  voters  of  the  city,  especially 
of  the  smaller  cities.  But  no  plan  could  be  suggested 
that  would  be  a  remedy  in  every  case.  Apian  that  would 
prove  efficient  in  one  city  would  fail  in  another  of  different 
conditions.  To  be  efficient  the"  plan  employed  must  be  sug- 
gested by  local  conditions.  But  in  every  city  the  remedy 
can  be  found  if  the  upright  voters  try  hard  enough  to  find  it 

Questions  on  Chapter  VU. 

1.  What  right  has  the  State  given  to  cities?     (287) 

2.  How  are  the  powers  of  a  city  limited?     (287) 

3.  What  power  may  a  city  exercise?     (287) 

4.  What  are  the  officers  of  a  city?     (287) 

5.  Why  is  it  necessary  to  have  city  government?     (288) 

6.  How  are  cities  now  classified  and  organized?     (289) 
T.'  What  is  that  general  statute?     (289) 

8.  How  may  an  unorganized  town  be  incorporated?     (289) 

9.  How  are  cities  governed?     (290) 

10.  To  what  subjects  do  ordinances  relate?     (290) 

11.  How  are  cities  classified,  and  give  the  classes?     (291) 

12.  How  do  these  classes  differ?     (291) 

13.  Who  is  the  chief  executive  officer,  and  name  his  duties?     (292) 

14.  Describe  how  boards  of  aldermen  are  elected.     (293) 

15.  What  duties  does  the  board  perform?     (293) 

16.  What  is  said  about  the  marshal?     (294) 

17.  The  police  judge?     (295) 

18.  What  duties  are  performed  by  the  clerk,  assessor  and  treasurer? 

(296) 

19.  What  is  said  of  third  class  cities?     (297) 

20.  How  are  their  affairs  regulated?     (297) 

21.  What  is  said  of  factory  inspection?     (297) 

22.  What  is  said  of  second  class  cities?     (298) 

23.  How  is  the  common  council  composed?     (298) 

24.  What  officers  has  a  city  of  second  class  under  commission  form  of 

government?     (298a) 

25.  What  duties  do  they  perform  (1)  as  legislative  and  (2)  executive 

officers?     (298a) 

26.  How  are  they  elected  and  nominated?     (298a) 

27.  How  may  they  be  recalled?     How  may  certain  other  officers  be 

appointed  and  removed?     (298a) 


I 


CITIES,   TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES.  359 

28.  How  may  ordinances  be  enacted?     (298a) 

29.  Of  what  is  the  council  composed  in  cities  of  third  class  which  have 

adopted  the  commission  form?     (298a) 

30.  Are  they  also  executive  officers?     As  such  what  do  they  do? 

May  they  be  recalled?     (298a) 

31.  May  the  initiative  and  referendum  be  used?     (298a) 

32.  What  is  the  avowed  purpose  of  commission  form  of  government? 

(298a) 

33.  What  is  said  of  first  class  cities?     (299) 

34.  What  is  said  of  registration  of  voters?     (299) 

35.  How  was  Kansas  City  organized?     (300) 

36.  How  is  the  municipal  assembly  composed?     (300) 

37.  When  does  an  ordinance  become  effective?     (300) 

38.  How  is  the  police  department  managed?     (300) 

39.  What  is  said  about  St.  Louis?     (301) 

40.  For  what  elective  officers  does  the  charter  provide?     (301) 

41.  What  further  legislative  power  have  the  people?     (301) 

42.  What  officers  does  the  mayor  appoint?     (301) 

43.  What  is  said  of  the  finance  department?     (301) 

44.  Discuss  the  board  of  public  service?     (301) 

45.  How  is  the  police  department  appointed,  controlled  and  paid? 

(301) 

46.  What  is  said  of  election  commissioners?     Of  excise  commissioner? 

(301) 

47.  What  provision  is  made  for  villages?     (302) 

48.  When  are  elections  held  in  cities?     (303) 

49.  How  far  m^y  city  limits  be  extended?     (304) 

50.  By  whom  is  the  extension  made?     (304) 

51.  How  is  property  assessed  in  cities  of  first  class?     Of  second  class? 

Of  third  class?    Of  fourth  class?     (305) 

52.  What  is  maximum  rate  of  taxation  for  current  expenses?     (306) 

53.  What  is  said  of  the  provision  fixing  a  maximum  rate?     (306) 

54.  How  else  may  revenue  be  raised?     (306) 

55.  For  what  purpose  may  debts  be  created?     (306) 

56.  How  may  they  be  created  and  to  what  extent?     (306) 

57.  How  are  costs  of  sidewalks  and  street  paving  paid?      In  what 

proportion?     (307) 

58.  How  are  costs  of  public  and  district  sewers  paid?     (307) 

59.  Are  these  charges  strictly  taxes?     (307) 

60.  How  can  the  money  collected  from  them  be  used?     (307) 

61.  Suppose  benefit  assessments  are  not  paid?     (307) 

62.  Who  may  determine  when  a  sidewalk  is  needed?     (307) 


360  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

63.  What  method  is  used  in  paving  streets  and  constructing  sewers? 

(307) 

64.  What  is  said  of  police  regulations?     (308) 

65.  Why  is  the  preservation    of  health   a  primary  duty  of  govern- 

ment?    (308a) 

66.  What  is  the  chief  means  of  protecting  public  health?     (308a) 

67.  What  things  aid  or  generate  diseases?     (308a) 

68.  Can  one  family  alone  guard  itself  against  these  things?     (308a) 

69.  What  duties  rest  upon  a  family?     (308a) 

70.  What  other  necessary  duties  rest  upon  the  city?     (308a) 

71.  What  is  said  about  the  difficulties  of  city  government?     (309) 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.    ' 

310,  Purposes  of  Education. — The  purpose  of  educa- 
tion is  to  prepare  one  for  right  Hving.  Those  are  compre- 
hensive words.  They  suggest  almost  every  sound  reason  for 
study  and  learning.  They  include  man's  duty  to  himself 
and  to  his  fellow-men.  The  purpose  of  schools  is  to 
help  men  to  grow  stronger  and  better;  to  become  better 
men — better  workers,  better  friends,  better  citizens — to  have 
stronger  bodies  and  sounder  minds — to  acquire  good  manners 
and  have  proper  regard  for  the  rights  of  others. 

In  order  that  every  person  may  acquire  an  education, 
or  at  least  some  education,  public  schools  have  been  estab- 
lished by  law.  In  providing  schools  for  every  child  the  State 
did  a  thing  that  entitles  it  to  a  high  place  among  great  nations. 
Schools  for  the  masses  were  not  known  in  ancient  times,  and 
they  are  known  only  among  the  most  enlightened  nations  of 
our  time.  The  State  is  justified  in  levying  taxes  for  the  sup- 
port of  such  schools,  not  only  because  education  multiplies 
the  productive  capacity  of  its  citizens  many  fold  and  thereby 
their  general  riches  are  greatly  increased,  but  because  public 
schools  are  the  greatest  of  all  forces  in  harmonizing  and  uni 


PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  361 

fying  and  Americanizing  all  the  people.  Our  hearts  ought 
to  swell  with  gratitude  and  pride  in  our  State  because  of  the 
great  good  that  is  being  accomplished  by  the  public  schools. 
The  State  schools  are  divided  into  common  schools,  con- 
solidated schools,  town  schools,  city  schools,  normal  schools, 
and   a   university. 

311.  Common    School   Districts. — Whenever    there  are 
i;  twenty   children   between  six  and  twenty  years  of  age,  in 

any  locality  not  organized  into  a  school  district,  the  voters 
thereof  are  authorized  to  organize  such  a  district,  which  may 
be  irregular  in  shape  and  contain  any  number  of  children  of 
school  age,  above  twenty.  If  the  unorganized  territory  con- 
tains less  than  twenty  children,  it  may  be  added  to  any 
'adjoining  district.  New  districts  may  also  be  formed  by 
dividing  those  already  organized.  But  that  cannot  be  done 
unless  each  of  the  districts  affected,  including  the  one  to  be 
formed,  will  still  contain  as  many  as  twenty  children  of  school 
age,  and  property  of  an  assessed  valuation  of  fifty  thousand 
dollars  or  eight  square  miles  of  territory. 

In  each  common  school  district  are  three  directors  and 
if  a  school  is  actually  conducted  at  least  one  school  house  and 
one  teacher. 

A  rural  school  having  six  directors  is  classified  as  a  con- 
solidated school  district.  A  district  having  six  directors  in 
which  is  a  city  of  the  fourth  class  or  an  incorporated  village 
is  classed  as  a  town  school.  A  district  in  which  is  a  city  of 
the  first,  second  or  third  class  is  classified  as  a  city  school. 

312.  Annual  Meeting. — The  law  authorizes  all  the 
legal  voters  of  a  common  school  district  to  meet  on  the  first 
Tuesday  of  April  of  each  year,  and  (1)  to  elect  b'y  ballot  one 
director  for  three  years;  (2)  to  determine  the  length  of  the 
school  term  for  the  next  year  in  excess  of  eight  months,  and 
(3)  the  rate  they  will  tax  themselves  in  excess  of  forty  cents 
on  the  hundred  dollars  valuation,  if  any,  for  maintaining 


362  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

the  school ;  and  if  the  district  has  no  school  house,  or  desires 
a  new  one,  to  vote  (4)  for  the  erection  of  such  a  house,  and 
to  determine  (5)  on  what  amount  they  will  further  tax  them- 
selves for  such  purpose;  (6)  to  decide  on  changes  of  the  bound- 
aries of  the  district,  and  (7)  to  vote  (once  in  four  years) 
for  a  county  school  superintendent;  and  to  transact  other 
business. 

313.  School  Boards. — ^The  school  board  of  a  common 
school  district  consists  of  three  directors,  each  of  whom  holds 
office  for  three  years,  one  being  elected  each  year.  A  direc- 
tor must  be  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  a  resident  tax- 
payer, twenty-one  years  of  age,  and  must  have  paid  a  state 
and  county  tax  within  one  year  next  preceding  his  or  her 
election,  and  may  be  either  a  man  or  woman.  A  director  of 
any  school  must  possess  these  qualifications. 

314.  Powers  of  School  Board. — ( 1 )  The  school  board  is 
required  to  make  rules  and  regulations  for  the  government  of 
the  school.  If  it  fails  to  do  so,  the  teacher  can  make  such 
rules  or  enforce  those  made  for  a  previous  teacher.  (2)  It 
is  required  to  continue  the  school  for  eight  months  in  each 
year,  if  a  tax  of  forty  cents  on  the  hundred  dollars'  valuation 
and  the  district's  share  of  the  other  school  funds,  together 
with  the  money  left  over  from  the  previous  year,  will  suffice 
to  pay  the  expenses  of  a  term  of  that  length;  if  the  moneys 
arising  from  these  three  sources  are  sufficient,  it  can  continue 
the  school  for  as  many  months  as  it  deems  wise — even  for 
a  longer  term  than  eight  months.  (3)  If  two- thirds  of  the 
voters  at  an  annual  or  special  election  have  authorized  the 
district  to  incur  an  indebtedness  for  a  school  house,  the  board 
can  issue  and  sell  the  bonds  of  the  district  to  obtain  the  money 
with  which  to  build  the  house,  and  must  direct  that  such  a 
tax  be  thereafter  annually  levied  upon  all  property  in  the  dis- 
trict as  will  pay  the  interest  and  principal  of  the  bonds  as  they 
may  mature.  And  if  a  majority  of  the  qualified  voters  who 
are  taxpayers  have  authorized  an  increase  in  taxes  to  a  certain 


PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  363 

ite  for  one  year  for  the  purpose  of  maintaining  school  or  re- 
^pairing  or  furnishing  buildings,  the  board  may  direct  a  tax 
levy  of  that  rate  for  the  one  year.  (4)  The  board  is  required 
to  employ  legally  qualified  teachers.  The  law  requires  the 
contract  to  be  signed  by  the  teacher  and  president  of  the  board, 
and  attested  by  the  clerk;  but  if  the  board,  as  such,  by  an 
order  entered  on  its  record,  actually  makes  a  contract  with 
the  teacher,  it  will  not  be  void  because  the  president  refuses 
to  sign  it,  or  the  clerk  to  attest  it.  But  no  contract  is  binding 
unless  the  teacher  holds  a  teacher's  certificate,  which  must  be 
in  force  for  the  full  time  for  which  the  contract  is  made,  which 
means  that  sometime  before  school  begins  the  teacher  must 
obtain  a  certificate  which  extends  to  the  end  of  the  term  or 
the  time  embraced  in  the  contract.  No  teacher  once  legally 
employed  can  be  discharged  until  the  certificate  is  revoked 
by  the  county  superintendent,  or  the  State  Superintendent  or 
other  officer  by  whom  it  was  issued.  (5)  The  board  is 
required  by  law  to  provide  the  necessary  globes,  maps, t charts, 
supplemental  books  and  fuel,  to  keep  the  school  house  in 
good  repair  and  it  and  the  grounds  ih  clean  and  healthy 
condition,  and  to  cause  the  building  to  be  properly  lighted, 
heated  and  ventilated,  and  the  floors  to  be  swept  and  the  fires 
to  be  made — all  at  the  expense  of  the  district.  It  also  has 
power  to  exclude  from  attendance  any  child  afflicted  with  a 
contagious  disease. 

A  director  receives  no  pay  for  his  services,  and  he  cannot 
be  a  teacher  in  the  school  of  the  district  for  which  he  is  director. 

These  are  the  main  powers  and^uties  of  school  boards  in 
all  districts. 

314a.  Consolidated  Districts. — The  voters  of  a  com- 
munity may  organize  a  consolidated  school  district  for  the 
purpose  of  maintaining  both  elementary  schools  and  a  high 
school.  This  applies  to  rural  and  village  communities, 
except  that  the  territory  of  a  town  which  has  two  hundred 
children  of  school  age  cannot  be  included  in  such  a  district. 


364  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

The  district  must  have  either  an  area  of  twelve  square  miles 
or  two  hundred  children  of  school  age.  Two  or  more  common 
school  districts,  in  whole  or  in  part,  may  be  consolidated  into 
such  a  district,  but  no  part  of  an  existing  district  can  be  taken 
into  the  consolidated  district  unless  the  part  left  contains 
eight  square  miles  of  territory  and  twenty  children  of  school 
age  or  property  whose  assessed  value  is  fifty  thousand  dollars 
and  twenty  children  of  school  age.  The  district  has  six 
directors,  each  of  whom  serve  three  years,  two  being  elected 
each  year.  It  it  secures  a  building  site  of  five  acres  the  state 
pays  one-fourth  the  cost  of  erecting  a  central  high  school 
building  (up  to  $2,000) ;  and  if  it  maintains  an  approved  high 
school,  including  one  year's  course  in  agriculture,  the  State 
helps  it  pay  the  expense  by  giving  it  annually  twenty-five 
dollars  for  each  square  mile  of  its  territory,  but  not  to  exceed 
a  certain  amount,  usually  eight  hundred  dollars  a  year.  The 
board  is  required  to  continue  the  elementary  schools  of  the 
district  eight  months  in  the  year,  if  a  tax  rate  of  sixty-five 
cents  on  the  hundred  dollars  of  assessed  valuation  of  all 
property  in  the  district,  together  with  its  share  of  the  public 
school  funds  and  the  money  on  hand,  is  sufficient  to  maintain 
a  school  of  that  length ;  and  if  it  levies  that  rate  and  the  amount 
of  money  arising  from  these  sources  is  not  sufficient  to  continue 
school  for  eight  months,  the  State  will  aid  it  to  make  up  the 
deficiency  by  giving  it  money  out  of  the  State  Treasury, 
usually  an  amount  equal  to  two  hundred  dollars  for  each 
elementary  school  in  the  district. 

315.  City  and  Town  Schools. — The  statutes  provide 
that  school  districts  embracing  cities  or  incorporated  villages 
may,  by  a  vote  of  the  people,  organize  into  a  city  or  town 
school  district.  In  such  a  district  a  school  building  may  be 
erected  in  each  school  ward,  and  one  general  high  school 
may  also  be  provided.  If  the  school  moneys  are  sufficient 
these  schools  must  be  kept  open  not  less  than  eight  months 
nor  more  than  ten  months  in  the  year.     Each  is  controlled  by  a 


PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  365 

board  of  six  directors,  two  of  whom  are  elected  each  year.  In 
these  districts  instead  of  an  "annual  meeting,"  such  as  is 
held  in  a  common  school  district,  there  is  an  election,  conducted 
very  much  as  other  general  elections  are.  They  are  held  in 
April,  on  t'he  sanie  day  city  officers  are  elected.  The  proposi- 
tions upon  which  the  voters  are  to  pass  are  printed  on  ballots  ^ 
and  the  voter  scratches  from  his  ballot  the  propositions  he 
does  not  approve.  Those  propositions  relate  to  the  same  sub- 
jects that  an  annual  school  meeting  may  consider  as  mentioned 
in  section  312,  except  that  where  additional  school  houses  are 
to  be  built  the  voters  do  not  have  the  right  to  determine 
their  location,  but  the  board  divides  the  district  into  wards, 
and  selects  the  site  for  a  building  in  each. 

1.  The  State  grants  to  a  city  or  town  school  a  small 
amount  of  money,  usually  from  $200  to  $800  a  year,  to  aid  it 
in  maintaining  a  high  school.  No  town  whose  taxable  wealth 
is  more  than  six  hundred  thousand  dollars  can  receive  such 
aid ;  and  the  less  the  assessed  valuation  of  the  property  in  the 
town,  the  greater  is  the  amount  of  aid  it  receives.  The  pur- 
pose is  to  aid  a  town  to  maintain  a  high  school  which  is  doing 
all  it  can  to  help  itself  and  yet  does  not  have  sufficient  funds 
to  do  so.  In  order  to  receive  the  aid  the  district  must  levy 
the  highest  school  taxes  permitted  by  law  for  "school  pur- 
poses" and  maintain  a  high  school  with  an  average  daily 
attendance  of  at  least  fifteen  pupils  and  give  one  year's  course 
in  agriculture. 

2.  A  city  school  district  is  a  different  corporation  from 
the  city  government.  It  may  have  different  boundaries.  The 
extension  of  the  city  limits  automatically  extends  its  bound- 
aries to  the  same  limits,  but  it  may  include  territory  that  the 
city  does  not.  Its  officers  are  in  no  wise  answerable  to  any 
city  officer  for  their  conduct.  It  is  a  separate  organization. 
Although  it  may  embrace  the  same  inhabitants  and  the  same 
territory  as  does  the  city,  it  is  just  as  independent  of  the  city 
government  as  is  any  rural  school  in  the  county,  except,  of 


366  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

course,  city  police  regulations  concerning  the  public  health 
must  be  observed,  and  the  school  property  is  chargeable  with 
its  share  of  the  cost  of  sewers,  sidewalks  and  street  improve- 
ments, but  it  cannot  be  otherwise  taxed. 

3.  In  cities  having  seventy-five  thousand  inhabitants 
elections  are  not  held  annually,  but  only  once  in  two  years, 
and  at  each  such  biennial  election  two  directors  are  elected 
for  a  term  of  six  years,  except  in  St.  Louis  where  there  are 
twelve  directors,  all  of  whom  are  elected  for  a  term  of  six 
years,  one-third  of  them  being  elected  every  two  years. 

These  boards  may  prescribe  rules  and  regulations  for  the 
examination  of  persons  desiring  to  teach  in  their  schools,  may 
provide  large  libraries  and  free  reading  rooms,  and  may  es- 
tablish and  maintain  free  night  schools.  Otherwise,  their 
powers  are  very  similar  to  those  of  all  other  boards. 

315a.  School  Day,  Week  and  Month. — The  schoo^ 
day  in  all  schools  consists  of  six  hours  occupied  in  actual 
school  work.  The  school  week  consists  of  five  school  days 
except  when  Thanksgiving  Day,  Christmas,  February  22nd 
or  July  4th  fall  upon  a  regular  school  day;  then  the  remaining 
four  days,  if  taught,  constitute  a  legal  school  week.  The 
school  month  consists  of  four  school  weeks. 

315b.  Special  Days. — The  first  Monday  of  October  is 
designated  by  law  as  Missouri  Day,  and  is  set  apart  as  a  day 
commemorative  of  Missouri  history,  to  be  observed  by  teachers 
and  pupils  with  appropriate  exercises.  The  first  Friday  after 
the  first  Tuesday  in  April  is  Arbor  Day,  and  all  teachers, 
pupils  and  patrons  are  requested  by  the  State,  but  not  re- 
quired, to  observe  it  in  planting  trees,  shrubbery  and  flowers 
upon  and  around  the  school  grounds.  The  21st  of  March  is 
Bird  Day,  and  teachers,  pupils  and  patrons  are  requested  by 
the  State  to  devote  it  to  the  study  of  birds,  their  habits  and 
usefulness,  and  especially  of  the  birds  in  the  neighborhood  of 
their  school.  September  28th,  or  the  school  day  nearest  that 
date,  is  Frances  Willard  Day,  and  one-fourth  of  it  is  set  apart 


PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  367 

by  law  for  instruction  in  the  history  and  benefits  of  the 
prohibition  of  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors 
in  the  United  States,  and  for  appropriate  exercises  relating 
to  that  subject. 

315c.  School  Age. — ^The  Constitution  says  "The  Gen- 
eral Assembly  shall  establish  and  maintain  free  public  schools 
for  the  gratuitous  instruction  of  all  persons  in  the  State  be- 
tween the  ages  of  six  and  twenty  years."  Persons  between 
the  ages  of  six  and  twenty  years  are  said  to  be  of  school  age. 

315d.  Subjects  to  be  Taught. — The  Constitution  does 
not  say  what  subjects  shall  be  taught  in  the  public  schools, 
nor  has  the  Legislature  done  so.  Nor  does  the  Constitution 
or  the  statutes  say  that  the  books  used  shall  be  printed  in  the 
English  language.  But  the  school  laws  are  all  built  on  the 
theory  that  the  primary  duty  of  a  public  school  is  to  give  in- 
struction in  elementary  subjects,  such  as  spelling,  reading, 
penmanship,  arithmetic,  geography,  grammar,  history  and 
civil  government,  and  that  if  the  district  does  not  have  money 
enough  to  provide  for  instruction  in  these  elementary  sub- 
jects and  in  higher  ones  the  work  of  the  school  must  be  con- 
fined to  education  in  elementary  subjects;  but  they  also 
contemplate  that  if  there  is  sufficient  money  there  will  be  a 
high  school  as  well  as  elementary  schools.  And  the  laws 
wisely  do  not  name  the  subjects  that  shall  be  taught  in  any 
school.  They  delegate  that  matter  to  its  chosen  officers  who 
are  experienced  in  education.  They  require  the  county  super- 
intendent to  adopt  a  course  of  study  for  the  schools  of  the 
county,  and  require  that  course  to  be  followed  by  teachers 
and  boards ;  and  they  require  the  county  text-book  commission 
to  adopt  text-books  for  use  in  all  the  schools  of  the  county, 
except  those  in  certain  cities,  and  say  that  no  other  books 
shall  be  used  as  texts  except  those  so  adopted ;  and  they  require 
the  State  Superintendent  to  classify  public  high  schools  into 
first,  secoxid  and  third  class,  and  to  prescribe  the  minimum 
course  of  study  for  each,  and  he  and  the  many  local  superin- 


368  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

tendents  working  together  have  agreed  upon  the  subjects 
that  are  to  be  taught  and  the  amount  of  study  that  must  be 
given  to  each  in  each  high  school  in  order  that  it  may  be  class- 
ified as  a  first,  or  a  second,  or  a  third  class  high  school. 

315e.  Textbooks. — A  majority  of  the  legal  voters  of  any 
school  district  may  at  the  annual  or  a  special  meeting  author- 
ize the  board  to  purchase  from  its  incidental  fund  all  text- 
books needed  for  use  in  the  school  and  furnish  them  to  pupils 
free  of  charge.  The  books  so  bought  are  the  property  of  the 
district,  and  can  be  used  by  the  pupils  only  in  accordance 
with  such  regulations  as  the  board  may  prescribe.  There  are 
many  demands  upon  the  incidental  fund,  which  can  never 
be  large,  and  therefore  there  may  not  be  enough  money  with 
which  to  buy  all  the  books  the  school  needs,  and  when  that 
is  the  case  the  board  must  first  supply  the  lowest  grades  and 
then  the  other  grades  in  order  until  all  the  elementary  grades 
are  supplied  before  any  books  are  bought  for  the  high  schools. 

But  there  is  another  fund  of  which  any  school  board  may 
avail  itself  for  that  purpose.  That  is  the  county  insurance 
fund,  and  it  can  be  explained  in  a  few  sentences.  The  State 
levies  a  tax  of  two  per  cent  on  the  premiums  received  by  for- 
eign insurance  companies  on  policies  issued  by  them  to  citi- 
zens of  this  State.  One-half  of  that  tax  is  annually  turned  over 
to**  the  various  counties,  in  the  proportion  that  the  -  number 
of*  children  of  school  age  in  each  bears  to  the  whole  number  in 
the  State.  When  a  county's  share  is  received,  the  county  court 
is  required  to  apportion  to  each  incorporated  city  or  town 
its  share,  using  the  same  rule  of  apportionment  (that  is,  each 
town  gets  such  a  proportion  of  the  county's  share  as  the 
number  of  school  children  in  the  town  bears » to  the  whole 
number  in  the  county)  and  the  balance  is  placed  in  the  county 
treasury  to  be  used  as  county  revenue.  The  fund  will  be 
applied  in  that  way  unless  the  school  boards  avail  themselves 
of  their  right  under  the  present  law  to  have  it  turned  over  to 
them  to  be  used  in  the  purchase  of  school  books.     If  the 


PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  369 

board  of  any  school  district  certifies  to  the  county  court  be- 
fore the  insurance  fund  for  any  year  is  distributed  to  the 
cities  and  the  county  treasury,  that  the  board  is  furnishing 
text-books  free  of  charge  to  the  pupils  in  the  first  four  grades, 
the  court  must  apportion  to  that  district  its  share  of  the  fund, 
to  be  used  in  buying  books  for  the  school,  and  its  share  will 
be  such  a  part  of  the  entire  amount  apportioned  to  the  county 
as  the  number  of  children  of  school  age  in  the  district  bears 
to  the  whole  number  in  the  county.  Thus  the  entire  county 
insurance  fund  may  be  applied  to  purchasing  text  books  for 
use  by  the  pupils  of  the  school  districts  of  the  county ;  and  as 
it  annually  amounts  to  over  $400,000,  or  about  46  cents  for 
each  child  of  school  age  in  the  State,  it  is  .sufficient  in  the  course 
of  two  or  three  years,  together  with  so  much  of  the  incidental 
fund  as  x:an  be  spared  to  that  purpose,  to  purchase  what 
text  books  the  pupils  of  a  district  will  need. 

315f.  Libraries. — The  school  board  of  every  district  is 
required  to  make  some  provision  for  a  school  library.  In 
cities  having  between  five  and  one  hundred  thousand  inhabi- 
tants the  board  may  spend  from  two  hundred  and  fifty  to 
twenty-five  hundred  dollars  each  year  in  establishing  and 
maintaining  libraries  and  public  parks  and  play  grounds  for 
the  use  of  the  school  children.  In  all  other  districts  the  board 
must  spend  each  year  not  less  than  five  nor  more  than  twenty 
cents  for  each  child  of  school  age  in  the  district  in  buying  suit- 
able books  for  a  school  library,  including  supplementary  readers 
and  reference  books ;  and  the  selections  are  made  from  a  list 
of  books  recommended  by  the  State  Library  Board,  consist- 
ing of  the  Superintendent  of  Schools  and  four  other  persons 
appointed  by  the  State  Board  .of  Education.  A  part  of  the 
books  listed  by  the  board  must  be  such  as  will  supplement 
the  regular  schoolroom  work  of  teacher  or  pupils  in  reading, 
literature,  history,  geography  and  nature  study,  or  practi- 
cal agriculture.  After  one  hundred  volumes  have  thus  been 
purchased  books  other  than  those  selected  by  the  State  Library 

24 


370  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

Board  may  be  bought.  Over  ninety  per  cent  of  all  the  schools 
in  the  State  now  have  libraries,  and  the  number  of  books  in 
them  is  over  a  million  and  a  half,  and  that  number  is  increas- 
ing at  the  rate  of  more  than  a  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
volumes  a  year,  and,  what  is  still  better,  the  books  now  being 
purchased  are  of  a  better  quality  and  kind  and  more  likely  to 
inspire  a  love  for  reading  and  a  thirst  for  useful  knowledge. 

315g.  Compulsory  Attendance. — The  law  requires  all 
children  between  the  ages  of  eight  and  fourteen  years  to  be 
sent  to  some  school  unless  there  is  good  reason  why  they 
should  not  be  compelled  to  attend.  The  school  need  not  be 
a  public  one;  but  unless  children  of  that  age  attend  a  parish 
or  parochial  or  other  private  school,  or  receive  regular  daily 
instruction  at  home  equivalent  to  that  received  by  children 
of  like  age  in  the  public  school,  they  may  be  compelled  to 
attend  a  public  school.  But  there  are  reasonable  exceptions  to 
the  rule :  if  the  child  is  sick,  or  is  mentally  or  physically  afflict- 
ed, or  has  completed  the  common  school  course,  or  there  is  no 
school  within  two  and  a  half  miles  of  the  child's  residence,  or 
if  the  child's  parents  or  guardian  through  extreme  poverty  is 
unable  to  provide  proper  clothing  for  the  child,  the  rule  com- 
pelling the  child  to  attend  cannot  be  enforced.  The  school 
board  in  every  district  haying  more  than  one  thousand  in- 
habitants has  power  to  employ  an  attendance  officer  to  see 
to  it  that  every  child  who  has  no  such  excuse  is  compelled  to 
attend  some  school ;  and  parents  whose  children  of  that  age 
have  no  such  excuse  are  liable  to  be  punished  in  the  courts  if 
they  do  not  send  them  to  school. 

The  law  compelling  children  to  be  sent  to  school  is  meant 
to  complete  what  are  called  the  child-labor  laws.  No  child 
under  the  age  of  fourteen  years  is  permitted  to  work  at  any 
gainful  occupation  except  at  agricultural  pursuits  or  in  domies- 
tic  service ;  and  no  child  under  the  age  of  sixteen  years  is  per- 
mitted to  work  in  a  hotel,  or  concert  hall,  or  wholesale  drug 
store,  or  a  pool  or  billiard  hall,  or  a  factory  using  dangerous 


i 


PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  371 

machinery  or  poisonous  acids  or  explosives,  or  a  brewery  or 
any  other  place  where  alcholic  liquors  are  manufactured 
or  sold,  or  in  operating  any  automobile  or  motor  truck,  or  in 
any  other  employment  dangerous  to  the  lives  or  injurious  to 
the  health  or  morals  of  children;  and  no  child  whose  age  is 
between  fourteen  and  sixteen  years  can  be  permitted  to  work 
in  any  other  place  unless  there  is  produced  an  employment 
certificate  obtained  from  the  superintendent  or  other  proper 
officer  of  the  school  certifying  that  the  child  has  regularly  at- 
tended some  school  and  is  able  to  read  and  write  simple  sen- 
tences in  the  English  language.  The  principle  upon  which 
these  laws  are  founded  is  that  children  are  entitled  to  their 
childhood,  and  their  lives  must  not  be  embittered  or  their 
bodies  dwarfed  or  crippled  by  being  forced  to  work  in  places 
in  which  only  persons  of  mature  years  and  fixed  morals  and 
sober  thoughtfulness  can  work  with  safety;  and,  the  State 
having  shut  them  out  of  such  places,  it  is  under  obligation  to 
require  them  to  attend  school  and  receive  an  education  that  will 
prepare  them  for  such  employments  or  other  useful  pursuits. 

315h.  Vocational  Training.— In  1917  Congress  inaugu- 
rated a  plan  for  vocational  education  in  the  public  schools. 
The  plan  contemplates  that  the  Government  will  co-operate 
with  the  States  in  preparing  teachers  to  give  instruction  in 
agriculture,  trade,  industry  and  home  economics  and  in  paying 
the  salaries  of  teachers  of  those  subjects.  The  Congress 
set  aside  a  certain  amount  of  money,  consisting  of  a  half 
million  dollars  for  the  first  year  and  increasing  each  year  for 
three  years,  after  which  it  is  to  be  one  million  dollars  annually, 
to  be  used  in  preparing  and  training  teachers  to  give  the  most 
valuable  instruction  in  those  subjects.  It  also  set  aside  a 
larger  amount,  beginning  with  a  half  million  for  the  first  year 
and  increasing  each  year  for  eight  years,  after  which  it  is  to 
be  three  million  dollars  a  year,  to  be  used  in  paying  the  salaries 
of  teachers,  supervisors  and  directors  of  agricultural  subjects, 
and  an  equal  sum  to  be  used  in  paying  the  salaries  of  teachers 


372  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

of  trade,  home  economics  and  industrial  subjects.  The 
money  is  to  be  used  exclusively  for  those  purposes.  It  is  to 
be  distributed  among  the  states  in  proportion  to  population — 
that  for  education  in  agriculture  in  the  proportion  that  the 
rural  population  of  a  state  bears  to  the  rural  population  of 
all  the  states,  and  that  for  instruction  in  trades,  industries 
and  home  economics  in  the  proportion  that  its  urbain  or  city 
population  bears  to  the  urban  population  of  all  the  states. 
To  receive  its  share  for  either  purpose  a  state  must  provide  an 
equal  amount  for  the  same  purpose.  The  cost  of  instruction 
in  other  subjects,  necessary  for  a  well-rounded  course  of 
training  in  any  of  these  vocational  subjects,  must  be  borne 
by  the  state  or  local  boards,  and  they  must  also  provide  the 
necessary  school  house  and  equipment.  Missouri  was  the 
first  State  in  the  Union  to  accept  the  plan.  The  General 
Assembly  empowered  the  State  Board  of  Education  to  arrange 
for  the  training  of  teachers  in  these  various  subjects,  to 
prescribe  the  studies  to  be  pursued  in  the  schools,  and  to  fix 
the  requirements  which  a  school  must  meet  in  order  to  have 
the  benefit  of  the  fund.  Teachers  are  trained  in  the  Normals, 
the  University,  or  in  the  high  school  of  a  city  having  seventy- 
five  thousand  inhabitants.  The  controlling  purpose  of  voca- 
ional  education  is  to  fit  young  persons  for  useful  employment. 
In  agricultural  subjects  the  education  is  designed  to  meet  the 
needs  of  persons  over  fourteen  years  of  age  who  are  preparing 
themselves  to  become  efficient  farmers,  and  the  school  giving 
the  course  must  provide  for  actual  practice  in  agriculture  on  a 
farm  for  at  least  six  months  in  each  year.  The  education  in 
trade,  industry  and  home  economics  is  designed  to  meet  the 
needs  of  persons  over  fourteen  years  of  age  who  are  preparing 
for  a  trade  or  industrial  pursuit;  the  school  giving  the  instruc- 
tion to  persons  who  have  not  entered  upon  such  employment 
must  require  that  at  least  half  of  the  time  of  such  instruction 
be  given  to  practical  work  in  a  useful  or  productive  pursuit; 
and  at  least  one-third  of  the  moneys  appropriated  to  pay  the 


PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  373 

salaries  of  teachers  must  be  applied  to  part-time  classes  for 
workers  under  eighteen  years  of  age  who  have  entered  upon 
employment  and  desire  to  enlarge  their  civic  and  vocational 
knowledge,  the  course  provided  for  them  being  not  less  than 
144  hours  of  class-room  instruction  per  year,  and  there  may  be 
an  evening  industrial  school  in  which  the  instruction  is  supple- 
mental to  the  daily  employment  of  students  over  sixteen  years 
of  age.  A  school  board  may  furnish  a  course  in  agriculture 
alone,  or  in  trade,  industry  or  home  economics  alone,  or  it 
may  furnish  a  course  in  both  branches  of  study;  but  in  order 
to  receive  from  the  State,  and  through  it  from  the  Federal 
Government,  one-half  the  teachers'  salaries,  it  must  provide 
the  other  half. 

316.  Taxation  and  Length  of  School  Term. — It  is  the 
policy  of  the  law  to  maintain  a  school  for  at  least  eight  months 
each  year  in  each  school  district,  and  whether  or  not  there 
will  be  a  longer  term  often  depends  on  the  voters  them- 
selves. The  taxpayers  in  each  district  are  by  law  compelled 
to  submit  to  a  tax  of  forty  cents  on  each  hundred  dollars  of 
the  assessed  valuation  of  all  property  in  the  district,  for  em- 
ploying teachers  and  paying  the  incidental  expenses  of  the 
school,  unless  a  less  tax  rate,  together  with  the  district's 
share  of  the  various  public  school  funds  and  the  money  left 
over  from  the  previous  year,  will  be  sufficient  to  maintain  a 
school  for  eight  months.  If  a  less  rate,  together  with  these 
other  moneys,  will  yield  enough  to  maintain  an  eight  months' 
term,  the  board  may  make  the  rax  rate  any  sum  it  pleases 
less  than  forty  cents.  The  board  is  bound  to  levy  a  rate  of 
forty  cents  if  that  sum  is  necessary  to  maintain  an  eight 
months'  school.  And  the  board  can  levy  forty  cents,  without 
consulting  the  taxpayers,  even  though  that  rate  would  provide 
for  a  nine  or  ten  months'  term.  But  is  cannot  exceed  that 
rate  unless  a  majority  of  the  taxpayers  authorize  it  to  do  so, 
and  then  it  must  fix  the  rate  at  such  sum  as  they  direct. 


374  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

This  rate  of  forty  cents  applies  to  all  divStricts  in  the  State 
except  in  those  cities  having  one  hundred  thousand  inhabit- 
ants or  more,  where  the  rate  is  sixty  cents  on  the  hundred 
dollars'  valuation  instead  of  forty. 

These  are  the  rates  that  the  boards  may  fix  without  con- 
sulting the  taxpayers,  but  in  all  rural  districts  the  rate  may  be 
increased  to  sixty-five  cents  on  the  hundred  dollars'  valuation 
by  a  majority  of  the  tax-paying  voters,  and  in  all  city  or  town 
districts  to  one  hundred  cents.  These  are  the  tax  rates  for 
"school  purposes,"  which  mean  the  employment  of  teachers, 
paying  janitors,  buying  fuel,  and  other  "incidental  expenses." 
The  money  raised  for  school  purposes  can  not  be  used  for 
paying  bonds  or  other  permanent  debts. 

But  even  these  maximum  rates  do  not  afford  sufficient 
funds  to  maintain  a  school  for  eight  months  in  some  districts. 
When  that  is  the  fact  the  law  makes  provisions  for  State  aid ; 
but  the  State  requires  the  district  to  do  its  best  towards 
raising  the  necessary  funds  before  it  will  furnish  such  aid ; 
it  requires  the  voters  of  the  district  to  authorize  a  levy  of  the 
highest  rate  of  taxation  for  "school  purposes"  permitted  by 
the  Constitution.  If  the  voters  authorize  a  tax  levy  of  sixty- 
Irve  cents  on  the  hundred  dollars  of  valuation  in  a  common 
school  or  rural  consolidated  district,  or  one  of  one  hundred 
cents  in  a  city  or  town  district,  and  the  amount  of  money 
produced  by  such  levy,  together  with  the  district's  share  of 
the  public  school  funds  and  the  money  on  hand,  is  not  sufficient 
to  pay  a  teacher  holding  a  third  grade  certificate  forty  dollars 
a  month  for  eight  months,  or  fifty  dollars  per  month  to  a 
teacher  holding  a  second  grade  certificate,  or  sixty  dollars  per 
month  to  one  holding  a  first  grade  certificate,  or  any  less 
salary,  the  State  Treasurer  will  turn  over  to  the  board  a 
sufficient  amount  to  make  up  the  deficiency  and  enable  it  to 
maintain  a  school  for  eight  months,  but  usually  not  to  exceed 
two  hundred  dollars  for  any  one  year,  unless  it  employs  more 
than  one  teacher. 


PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  375 

317.  Taxation  for  School  Houses. — Any  schoor  district 
may  contract  a  debt  for  school  houses,  furniture  or  building 
sites.  And  the  property  within  the  district  must  be  taxed  to 
pay  that  debt.  And  in  addition  to  the  tax  to  pay  that  debt, 
the  property  within  the  district  may  be  further  taxed  to  create 
a  fund  to  build  other  houses.  But  the  debt  of  a  district  can 
at  no  time  be  increased  if  that  then  existing  equals  five  per 
cent  of  the  assessed  valuation  of  all  property  within  the  dis- 
trict. 

Nor  can  any  district  create  a  debt  until  two-thirds  of  the 
qualified  voters  of  the  district  voting  at  an  election  authorize 
it.  The  vote  may  be  taken  at  an  annual  school  meeting  or  a 
special  election,  but  in  either  case  two-thirds  of  the  voters 
voting  at  the  election  must  vote  "for  the  loan"  before  it  can 
be  legally  charged  against  the  district.  If  that  is  done,  then 
thereafter  the  school  board  must  annually  levy  such  a  tax  as 
will  pay  the  interest  as  it  accrues,  and  it  must  also  levy  such  a 
tax  as  wdll  pay  the  debt  itself  within  twenty  years. 

But  after  having  created  a  debt  equal  to  five  per  cent,  the 
patrons  of  a  school  may  yet  w^ant  more  school  house  room. 
Suppose  after  the  district  has  voted  a  loan  equal  to  five  per 
cent  and  built  a  school  house,  the  school  house  burns  down 
without  insurance;  its  taxpayers  of  course  must  be  taxed  to 
pay  that  loan.  Or  suppose  the  voters  wish  to  build  a  school 
house,  but  do  not  wish  their  district  to  go  in  debt  for  it;  or 
suppose  after  authorizing  a  loan  they  find  that  it  will  not 
build  quite  so  good  a  house  as  they  need.  In  any  such  case, 
a  fund  for  building  purposes  may  be  created  when  two-thirds 
of  the  qualified  voters  of  the  district  vote  for  a  tax  for  that 
purpose,  and  there  is  no  limit  to  the  tax  that  may  be  levied  for 
such  purpose,  but  the  tax  can  be  voted  for  only  one  year  at  a 
time,  but  may  be  voted  each  succeeding  year.  It  can  be  levied 
for  no  year  unless  two- thirds  of  the  voters  authorize  its  levy  for 
that  year.  But  the  tax  to  pay  a  loan,  when  once  authorized., 
must  be  levied  by  the  board  each  year  until  the  entire  debt 
is  paid. 


376  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 


^ 


Thus  we  see  that  the  rate  of  taxation  for  current  school 
purposes  will  not  exceed  sixty  cents  on  the  hundred  dollars  of 
the  assessed  value  of  property  in  districts  composed  of  cities 
having  one  hundred  thousand  inhabitants,  and  forty  cents  in 
all  other  districts,  unless  a  majority  of  the  voters  who  are 
taxpayers  authorize  a  higher  rate;  but  those  rates  for  those 
purposes  may  be  increased  to  one  hundred  cents  in  cities  and 
towns,  and  to  sixty-five  cents  in  other  districts.  And  for  the 
purpose  of  erecting  buildings  in  any  district,  the  tcixes  may,  by 
two-thirds  of  the  qualified  voters,  whether  taxpayers  or  not, 
be  increased  for  any  one  year  to  any  rate  they  may  determine 
upon;  and  if  two-thirds  of  the  voters  have  authorized  the 
board  to  issue  bonds  to  be  used  in  erecting  school  houses  or 
other  buildings,  an  additional  tax  sufficient  to  pay  the  annual 
interest  on  those  bonds  and  at  least  one-twentieth  of  the  bonds 
themselves  must  be  levied  each  year. 

318.  Power  to  Fix  Tax  Rate. — The  power  given  to  a 
majority  of  the  taixpayers  of  a  district  who  are  legal  voters  to 
determine  what  shall  be  the  tax  rate  for  school  purposes  is 
unusual  in  Missouri  government.  It  is  the  only  case  in  which 
the  taxpaying  voters  have  the  right  to  say  what  the  tax  rate 
shall  be.  In  county  government,  the  rate  of  taxation  for 
current  county  expenses  is  fixed  by  the  county  court,  but  it 
cannot  exceed  certain  maximum  rates.  In  city  government, 
the  rate  is  fixed  by  the  council  and  mayor,  and  can  be  fixed 
at  any  rate  not  in  excevss  of  a  certain  maximum  rate  prescribed 
by  law.  But  in  school  districts  the  board  can  fix  the  tax 
rate  at  g.  certain  minimum  rate  prescribed  by  law,  but  a 
majority  of  the  taxpayers  who  are  voters,  if  they  choose,  may 
fix  upon  a  higher  rate  for  "school  purposes,"  and  two-thirds 
of  the  voters  may  fix  an  unlimited  rate  for  building  purposes 
for  any  one  year.  These  provisions  show  how  greatly  con- 
cerned the  State  is  in  education.  The  law  puts  it  largely  in  the 
hands  of  the  taxpaying  voters  to  say  how  efficient  their  school 
shall  be.     If  the  school  is  not  a  good  one  the  taxpayers,  who 


PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  377 

refuse  to  vote  a  tax  large  enough  to  maintain  an  efficient 
school,  are  largely  responsible. 

319.  The  State  Board  of  Education  is  composed  of  the 
Superintendent  of  Schools,  Governor,  Secretary  of  State 
and  Attorney-General.  The  Constitution  vests  in  it  "the 
supervision  of  instruction  in  the  public  schools,"  but  it  in 
fact  exercises  very  little  supervision  over  them  except  in 
the  matter  of  vocational  training,  because  the  laws  have 
imposed  on  other  officers  the  actual  work  of  conducting 
schools  and  giving  instruction  in  them.  But  it  does  other 
things  of  value  to  the  schools.  It  looks  after  the  swamp 
and  other  lands  which  have  been  granted  to  the  counties  in 
which  they  lie  to  be  sold  for  the  benefit  of  public  schools,  and 
sees  to  it  that  when  the  lands  are  sold  so  much  of  the  money 
as  belongs  to  the  schools  is  turned  into  the  school  funds.  It 
directs  the  investment  of  the  Public  School  Fund  and  the 
Seminary  Fund  (described  in  succeeding  sections)  and  sees 
to  it  that  the  incomes  arising  from  tliem  are  applied  for  the 
purposes  for  which  they  were  created,  and  that  the  public 
schools  receive  each  year  the  moneys  appropriated  by  the 
Legislature  for  their  support.  It  also  appoints  one  member 
of  the  text-book  commission  of  each  county,  and  four  members 
of  the  State  Library  Board. 

320.  School  Funds. — There  are  several  kinds  of  per- 
manent school  funds  created  by  law  for  the  purpose  of  sup- 
porting state  schools.  The  local  fund  has  already  been  dis- 
cussed ;  it  is  the  fund  raised  by  direct  taxation  upon  the  prop- 
erty of  the  taxpayers  in  each  district.  But  in  addition  to 
that  there  are  the  Public  School  Fund,  the  Seminary  Fund, 
the  .County  Fund,  the  Township  Fund  and  special  district 
funds — all  permanent  funds. 

321.  The  Public  School  Fund.— There  is  a  perma- 
nent endowment  of  the  public  schools  of  the  entire  State 
which  is  by  the  Constitution  called  the  "Public  School  Fund." 
It  amounts  to  more  than  three  millions  of  dollars,  and  only 


378  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

the  annual  income  thereform  can  be  used  for  the  support  of 
the  schools.  It  had  its  origin  in  an  act  of  Congress  dated 
June  13,  1812,  the  passage  of  which  was  secured  largely  by 
Thomas  F.  Riddick,  an  honored  citizen  of  Missouri,  ^ho 
rode  on  horseback  all  the  way  to  Washington  to  persuade 
Congressmen  to  support  the  measure.  That  act  and  other 
subsequent  acts  of  Congress  gave  to  Missouri  certain  saline 
and  swamp  lands  lying  within  her  borders,  to  be  sold  and  the 
proceeds  to  be  turned  into  the  State  Treasury,  to  be  invested 
by  the  State  and  the  income  to  be  used  for  public  schools. 
To  this  fund  have  also  been  added  certain  fines  and  forfeit- 
ures, and  unclaimed  escheats.  Sometimes  it  occurs  that 
persons  without  known  or  ascertainable  heirs  die  without 
wills,  leaving  estates.  The  proceeds  of  such  estates  are 
turned  into  the  State  Treasury,  and  if  not  claimed  within 
twenty  years  by  some  rightful  owner  are  transferred  to  the 
Public  School  Fund. 

322.  The  Seminary  Fund  is  another  state  school 
fund,  the  proceeds  of  which  are  applied  to  the  support  of  the 
State  University,  which  has  been  established  at  Columbia 
for  the  purpose  of  affording  the  highest  education  in  collegi- 
ate learning,  in  the  law,  in  medicine,  in  electrical  and  civil 
engineering,  in  scientific  agriculture,  and  in  other  branches 
of  useful  study.  This  fund  amounts  to  about  one  million 
two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars.  It  began  in  the 
grant  by  Congress  in  1818  and  1820  of  72  sections  of  un- 
entered land  lying  in  Jackson,  Lewis,  Scott  and  other  coun- 
ties. These  lands,  which  in  the  aggregate  amounted  to  two 
whole  townships,  were  sold  and  the  proceeds,  amounting  to 
about  one  hundred  thousand  dollars,  were  used  to  provide 
an  endowment  for  the  University.  In  1862  Congress  gave 
certain  other  lands  in  the  State  in  aid  of  education  in  agri- 
culture, and  these  were  sold  about  1883,  and  nearly  four 
hundred  thousand  dollars  more  were  added  to  the  Seminary 
Fund.     Then  in  1891  Congress  reimbursed  Missouri  for  the 


PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  379 

money  that  had  been  raised  from  the  citizens  of  this  State 
($646,958.23)  by  the  "direct  tax"  mentioned  in  section  62,  and 
this  was  added  to  the  Seminary  Fund.  Other  small  sums 
have  been  added  from  time  to  time,  until  the  entire  Seminary 
Fund  has  risen  to  what  has  already  been  stated.  It  is  a  per- 
manent endowment  for  the  State  University,  and  the  School 
of  Mines  and  Metallurgy,  which  is  a  part  of  the  University. 

324.  How  Invested. — The  Public  School  Fund  and  the 
Seminary  Fund  have  been  accumulating  for  almost  a  century. 
The  Constitution  of  1875  required  them  to  be  invested  in  the 
bonds  of  the  State  or  of  the  United  States,  and  they  were 
invested  in  State  bonds.  But  the  Constitution  also  required 
all  State  bonds  to  be  gradually  paid,  and  required  that  an 
annual  tax  on  all  property  in  the  State  should  be  levied  to 
raise  money  with  which  to  pay  them,  and  by  1902  all  of  them 
except  those  belonging  to  these  two  funds  had  been  paid.  What 
was  the  State  to  do  in  that  situation?  It  could  have  gone 
ahead  lewing  the  tax  until  it  had  an  amount  of  money  in 
hand  equal  to  the  par  value  of  the  bonds,  and  have  turned 
over  that  amount  of  money  to  the  Stat€  Board  of  Education 
and  taken  up  and  destroyed  the  bonds  belonging  to  these 
funds.  But  what  would  the  board  have  done  with  the  money  ? 
If  that  had  been  done  it  would  have  been  compelled  to  invest 
it  in  United  States  bonds,  which  bear  not  to  exceed  three 
per  cent,  and  the  State  bonds  in  w^hich  these  funds  were  invest- 
ed bore  six  per  cent;  that  course  would  have  meant  that  the 
public  schools  would  each  year  thereafter  receive  about 
S90,000  less  and  the  State  University  about  $37,500  less  than 
they  had  been  receiving  from  these  funds.  That  course 
was  not  pleasing  to  the  people  of  the  State.  An  amendment 
to  the  Constitution  therefore  was  proposed  and  overwhelm- 
1^  ingly  adopted.  It  contemplated  that  the  bonds  in  which 
the  funds  were  invested  would  not  be  paid,  but  (being  in 
possession  of  the  State)  would  be  cancelled,  and  in  lieu  of 
them  an  equal  amount  of  certificates  would  be  signed  by  the 


380  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI.. 

Governor  and  turned  over  to  the  State  Board  of  Education, 
and  that  they  would  bear  the  same  interest,  at  least  for  twenty 
years,  that  the  bonds  had  borne,  and  that  a  tax  of  three  cents 
on  the  hundred  dollars'  valuation,  or  so  much  of  it  as  might 
be  needed,  should  be  annually  levied  to  pay  that  interest, 
and  when  paid  so  much  of  the  interest  as  pertained  to  the 
Public  School  Fund  should  be  distributed  to  the  public  schools 
and  so  much  of  it  as  pertained  to  the  Seminary  Fund  should 
be  turned  over  to  the  State  University. 

The  Public  School  Fund  and  the  Seminary  Fund  are 
therefore  invested  in  "certificates  of  indebtedness"  signed 
by  the  Governor  and  issued  to  the  State  Board  of  Education. 
These  certificates  are  simply  non-negotiable  State  bonds. 
They  are  simply  debts  which  the  State  owes  those  funds, 
and  therefore  the  Constitution  calls  them  ''sacred  obligations 
of  the  State."  They  express  an  agreement  on  the  part  of  the 
State  to  raise  by  means  of  taxation  the  annual  interest  they 
bear,  and  to  pay  the  principals  thereof  whenever  the  people 
by  a  change  in  their  Constitution  shall  direct  some  other  way 
in  which  to  invest  them.  Invested  in  this  way  the  State 
itself  is  the  debtor  or  the  borrower  of  the  money  belonging  to 
these  funds,  and  invested  in  this  way  they  can  be  wasted  or 
lost  only  when  the  people  of  the  State  lose  their  sacred  honor. 

These  funds  are  still  slowly  growing ;  some  money  is  added 
to  them  every  year;  and  now  whatever  amount  belonging 
to  them  accumulates  in  the  State  Treasury  is  invested  in 
county,  city,  school  district  or  drainage  district  bonds. 

325.  Legislative  Appropriations. — The  Constitution 
provides  that  at  least  one-fourth  of  the  ordinary  State  reve- 
nues shall  be  appropriated  for  the  use  of  public  schools.  Since 
1887  the  Legislature  has  appropriated  one- third  of  the  reve- 
nues to  this  purpose.  The  entire  amount  annually  turned 
over  to  the  schools  from  these  appropriations  and  from  the 
interest  on  the  State  Public  School  Fund  is  about  two  million 
dollars,  and  is  more  than  two  dollars  for  every  child  of  school 


I 


PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  381 

age  in  the  State.  The  large  part  of  this  money  is  apportioned 
to  the  various  counties  by  the  State  Superintendent  of  Public 
schools  according  to  the  number  of  teachers  and  the  numbers  of 
days  all  children  have  attended  school  during  the  past  year,  and 
each  county's  share  is  by  the  county  clerk  divided  up  among 
the  school  districts  of  the  county  in  the  same  proportion,  and 
the  money  turned  over  to  the  county  treasurer  and  by  him  paid 
out  to  teachers.  By  this  means  the  State  aids  the  whole  State 
to  have  public  schools,  but  especially  counties  of  small  taxable 
wealth. 

326.  County  School  Fund. — There  is  also  in  each 
county  a  County  School  Fund  which  is  loaned  and  the  inter- 
est used  to  aid  the  public  schools  of  the  county.  It  is  now 
derived  almost  entirely  from  fines,  penalties  and  forfeitures. 
The  net  proceeds  of  fines  imposed  in  the  circuit  court  and  in 
magistrates'  courts  go  into  this  fund,  as  do  the  amounts  real- 
ized from  bonds  forfeited  to  the  State  by  those  persons  accused 
of  crime  who  escape  after  having  given  bail.  In  some  counties 
a  part  of  this  fund  has  been  derived  from  the  sale  of  swamp 
lands  lying  therein,  which  were  granted  to  the  State  by  Con- 
gress, and  then  to  the  counties  by  the  General  Assembly, 
to  be  sold  and  the  net  proceeds  added  to  the  public  school 
fund  of  the  county. 

The  County  School  Fund  is  loaned  by  the  county  court 
on  unmortgaged  real  estate  worth  at  least  twice  as  much  as 
the  amount  loaned,  and  the  interest  as  it  is  paid  is  appor- 
tioned to  the  various  school  districts  of  the  county  in  pro- 
portion to  the  number  of  children  of  school  age  in  each.  The 
aggregate  of  all  the  county  school  funds  of  the  State  is  nearly 
six  million  dollars,  and  is  increasing  at  the  rate  of  nearly  one 
hundred  thousand  dollars  a  year. 

327.  Township  School  Funds. — In  each  county  there 
is  also  a  separate  Township  School  Fund.  The  laws  of  Con- 
gress and  of  Missouri  required  that  section  16  of  every  Con- 
gressional township  be  sold  and  the  money  added  to  a  town- 


382  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OP  MISSOURI. 

ship  school  fund.  The  money  is  loaned  by  the  county  court, 
just  as  is  the  County  School  Fund,  and  the  interest  as  it  is 
paid  is  distributed  among  the  school  districts  of  each  town- 
ship in  proportion  to  the  number  of  children  of  school  age  in 
each.  The  aggregate  of  these  funds  in  all  the  counties  is 
more  than  two  million  fiv^  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

328.  Special  District  Funds.— The  early  French 
towns  in  this  State,  such  as  St.  Louis,  St.  Charles,  Carondelet 
and  others,  always  had  a  common  field  which  had  been 
used  by  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  for  pasture  and  other 
purposes.  That  of  St.  Louis,  for  instance,  was  called  the 
Grand  Prairie  Common  Field.  By  an  act  of  Congress,  dated 
June  13,  1812,  these  commons  were  given  to  the  inhabitants 
of  the  town  to  which  they  belonged  ''for  the  support  of 
schools,"  and  by  subsequent  acts  of  the  Legislature  and  in 
some  cases  by  vote  of  the  people  also,  these  lands  were  sold 
and  a  part  or  all  of  the  moneys  turned  over  to  the  public 
school  district  of  the  towns.  Besides,  special  gifts  or  be- 
quests have  been  made  to  some  districts.  These  funds  con- 
stitute, in  part,  what  is  classed  as  the  Permanent  Special  Dis- 
trict funds.  They  amount  altogether  to  about  two  million 
six  hundred  thousand  dollars.  At  least  two  millions  and 
a  half  of  that  amount  belong  to  the  school  district  in  which 
St.  Louis  is  situated,  and  a  part  of  it  was  obtained  from 
the  sale  of  a  part  of  section  sixteen  of  the  township  covered 
by  the  city,  and  by  fines  and  forfeitures.  But  as  that  city 
is  a  county  within  itself  and  there  is  there  no  longer  a  Con- 
gressional township,  the  County  Fund,  the  Township  Fund 
and  the  Special  District  Fund  are  all  consolidated  into  one, 
and  is  usually  classed  as  a  Special  District  Fund,  although  it 
has,  in  part,  been  created  in  the  same  way  that  the  County 
Fund  and  Township  Fund  have  been  in  other  counties. 

329.  Public  School  Endowment. — The  Public  School 
Fund,  the  County  School  funds,  the  Township  School  funds 
and  the  Special  District  funds  amount  to  more  than  fourteen 


PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  383 

million  dollars,  and  they  yield  over  eight  hundred  thousand 
dollars  annually;  and  when  to  this  income  are  added  the  one- 
third  of  the  State  revenues  and  the  other  sums  appropriated 
by  the  Legislature,  the  entire  amount  which  the  public  schools 
receive  each  year,  in  addition  to  the  taxes  raised  in  the  various 
districts,  is  considerably  more  than  two  million  dollars. 

330.  Cost  of  Public  Schools. — In  addition  to  the  money 
appropriated  by  the  Legislature  and  the  income  from  the 
various  school  funds,  the  school  boards  raise  over  thirteen 
millions  annually  for  "school  purposes"  by  local  taxation,  and 
over  three  millions  more  for  paying  debts  and  other  "building 
purposes."  The  entire  cost  of  the  public  schools  for  the 
year  ending  June  30,  1915,  was  S19,700,626.  The  annual 
cost  of  the  University  and  the  six  Normal  Schools  is  over  one 
million  more. 

In  1915  there  were  922,831  children  of  school  age  in  the 
State,  and  almost  exactly  four  per  cent  of  them  were  colored. 
There  are  9792  school  districts,  and  nearly  twenty  thousand 
public  school  teachers,  and  of  the  districts  six  hundred  have 
high  schools,  in  which  nearly  two  thousand  high  school 
teachers  are  employed. 

331.  State  Normals. — For  the  purpose  of  educating 
teachers  the  Legislature  has  established  five  Normal  schools 
for  white  persons — at  Kirksville,  Warrensburg,  Cape  Girar- 
deau, Springfield  and  Maryville — and  one  for  negroes,  Lin- 
coln Institute,  at  Jefferson  City.  Each  of  these  schools  is 
managed  by  a  board  of  regents  appointed  by  the  Governor, 
and  these  boards  elect  a  faculty  or  a  set  of  skilled  teachers. 

The  permanent  school  funds  of  the  State  of  all  kinds  on  June  30,  1915,  were 
as  follows: 

Amount  of  State  School  Fund $3 ,  159 ,  281 .  14 

Amount  of  Seminary  Fund 1 ,  280 ,  382 .85 

Amount  of  County  School  Fimds 5 ,  919 .  21 1 .  65 

Amount  of  Township  School  Funds 2 ,  514 ,  123 .  27 

Amount  of  Special  District  Funds 2 ,  620 ,  624 .  32 

Total  of  all  funds / $15 ,  493 .  623 .  23 


384  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

The  number  of  students  in  these  schools  is  large.  The  schools 
are  supported  by  the  State  out  of  money  appropriated  for 
that  purpose  by  the  Legislature. 

331a.  Teacher-Training. — In  furtherance  of  the  purpose 
of  training  and  educating  teachers  for  elementary  and  rural 
schools,  and  in  order  that  there  may  be  a  school  close  to  their 
homes  where  they  may  receive  such  preparation,  the  State 
appropriates  a  small  amount  of  money,  usually  seven  hundred 
and  fifty  dollars  a  year,  to  such  high  schools  of  the  first  class  as 
are  approved  by  the  State  Superintendent  and  maintain  a 
teachers'  training  course;  but  no  school  can  have  such  aid 
unless  a  class  of  ten  teacher-training  students  was  maintained 
during  the  preceding  semester.  The  money  so  appropriated 
must  be  used  in  paying  the  salaries  of  teachers  in  the  eleventh 
and  twelfth  grades.  The  State  Superintendent  prescribes 
the  conditions  for  admission  to  the  teacher-training  classes, 
and  the  studies  to  be  pursued.  The  State  also  aids  the  school 
boards  in  St.  Louis  and  Kansas  City  to  maintain  a  teacher- 
training  school  for  the  training  of  teachers  for  th,e  elementary 
schools  of  these  cities,  but  in  order  to  obtain  the  aid  the  course 
of  instruction  must  include  a  two-year  professional  course  in 
advance  of  a  four-year  standard  high-school  course. 

332.  Schools  for  Colored  Children.— The  Constitu- 
tion says:  "Separate  schools  shall  be  established  for  the 
education  of  children  of  African  descent."  No  colored  child 
can  attend  a  school  established  for  the  education  of  white 
children;  nor  can  a  white  child  attend  a  school  for  colored 
children. ,  The  school  for  colored  children  must  be  of  the 
same  length  as  that  for  white  children  in  the  same  district, 
and  their  school  must  give  the  same  advantages  and  privi- 
leges as  are  provided  in  schools  of  corresponding  grade  for 
white  children  in  the  district.  Their  teachers  are  paid  in  the 
same  way,  out  of  the  same  fund.  And  if  there  are  fifteen 
colored  children  of  school  age  in  the  district  a  school  must  be 
provided  for  them  by  the  school  board,  or  the  district  will 


PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  385 

lose  its  part  of  the  public  school  funds  for  the  next  year;  and 
if  there  are  a  less  number,  they  can  attend  any  school  for 
colored  children  in  the  county  and  the  board  must  pay  their 
tuition. 

333.  County  Superintendent. — In  each  county  there  is 
a  county  superintendent  of  public  schools,  elected  by  the 
qualified  voters  at  the  annual  school  meetings  in  1915,  and 
every  four  years  thereafter,  for  a  term  of  four  years.  He  is 
paid  a  salary  varying  from  seven  hundred  to  fifteen  hundred 
dollars  a  year,  the  amount  depending  on  the  population 
oi  the  county.  Four  hundred  dollars  of  the  amount  is  paid 
by  the  State,  and  the  rest  by  the  county.  He  has  general 
supervision  over  all  the  schools  of  the  county,  except  town 
or  city  schools  employing  a  superintendent  who  devotes  at 
least  one-half  his  time  to  the  direct  work  of  supervision.  He 
is  required  to  visit  each  of  such  schools  at  least  once  a  year, 
and  to  give  such  aid  as  he  can,  both  to  the  teacher  and  board, 
in  bettering  the  school  work  and  conditions.  He  holds  an- 
nually not  less  than  six  public  meetings  in  different  places 
in  the  county  for  discussing  educational  matters  and  coun- 
seling teachers  and  boards,  and  teachers  and  directors 
are  required  to  attend  these  meetings.  One  of  these  meetings 
is  held,  for  two  days,  at  the  county  seat,  in  July  or  August, 
or  just  before  the  beginning  of  the  fall  terms  of  schools,  at 
which  teachers  and  directors  receive  instruction  from  him 
and  other  trained  schoolmen  in  methods  of  teaching  and 
school  management.  He  adopts  a  course  of  study  for  these 
schools,  and  a  plan  of  grading  them,  and  arranges  a  system, 
of  final  examination  and  graduation  of  pupils  who  have  com- 
pleted the  course  of  study  prescribed  by  the  State  for  rural 
schools. 

He  conducts  examinations,  for  two  days  each,  three 
times  a  year,  for  those  wishing  certificates  authorizing  them 
to  teach  in  the  public  schools.  The  examinations  are  public 
and    written.       The    questions    to-be    answered    are    pre- 

25 


386  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

pared  by  the  State  Superintendent,  and  the  papers  of  ap- 
pHcants  for  a  first  grade  certificate  are  graded  by  him,  as 
are  also,  upon  request,  the  papers  of  those  desiring  second 
or  third  grade  certificates,  but  unless  such  request  is  made 
they  are  graded  by  the  County  Superintendent.  In  every 
case,  whoever  grades  the  papers,  the  latter  officer  grants 
the  certificate,  but  he  can  not  grant  it  unless  the  grades 
reach  certain  percentages  fixed  by  the  statute,  nor  unless 
the  applicant  is  of  good  moral  character.  There  are  three 
grades  of  certificates,  first,  second  and  third,  the  third  grade 
being  valid  for  one  year  and  the  second  grade  for  two  years 
in  the  county  in  which  issued,  and  the  first  grade  for  three 
years  anywhere  in  the  State.  To  obtain  a  third  grade  cer- 
tificate the  applicant  must  obtain  an  average  grade  of  80 
per  cent  in  spelling,  reading,  penmanship,  language  lessons, 
geography,  arithmetic,  English  grammar.  United  States 
history,  civil  government  (including  the  government  of 
Missouri),  agriculture,  pedagogy,  and  physiology,  and  hy- 
giene, with  special  reference  to  the  effect  of  alcoholic  drinks 
and  stimulants  and  narcotics  generally  upon  the  human 
body.  To  obtain  a  second  grade  certificate  the  applicant 
must  obtain  an  average  grade  of  85  in  the  foregoing 
subjects  and  algebra  and  literature.  To  obtain  a  first  grade 
certificate  the  applicant  must  obtain  an  average  grade  of  90 
per  cent  on  all  the  foregoing  subjects,  and  upon  one  branch 
of  history,  either  ancient,  mediaeval  or  modern,  or  English, 
and  one  branch  of  science,  either  physical  geography,  physics 
or  elementary  biology,  and  must  have  had  eight  months' 
experience  in  teaching.  In  addition,  after  September  1, 
1916,  the  applicant  for  a  first  or  second  grade  certificate  must 
have  completed  three  years,  and  after  September  1,  1918, 
four  years,  of  the  course  of  study  prescribed  for  an  accredited 
high  school,  or  an  equivalent  course  in  some  college  or  other 
school. 


PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  387 

For  some  years  prior  to  1909  there  could  be  no  county 
superintendent  until  a  majority  of  the  voters  of  a  county 
had  voted  to  have  one,  and  not  many  counties  so  voted.  But 
in  1909  the  Legislature  created  the  office  of  county  superin- 
tendent, and  required  him  to  be  elected  and  to  have  an  office 
at  the  county  seat,  just  as  other  county  officers.  The  office 
has  proved  to  be  one  of  great  public  benefit.  The  superin- 
tendents have  become  the  source  of  great  inspiration  among 
the  people  along  many  useful  lines.  Not  only  have  teachers 
been  helped,  not  only  have  school  patrons  been  induced 
to  take  a  greater  interest  in  their  school  and  to  bring  about 
healthier  and  more  comfortable  conditions  in  the  school 
house  and  grounds,  but  a  larger  community  spirit  is  awakening, 
and  whole  sections  of  a  county  and  In  some  cases  a  whole 
county  are  uniting  to  make  rural  and  village  life  more  profit- 
able and  inviting. 

334.  Text-Book  Commission. — ^There  is  alsQ  a  county 
text-book  commission,  composed  of  the  County  Superin- 
dent,  one  member  appointed  by  the  county  court,  and  another 
appointed  by  the  State  Board  of  Education.  This  commission 
adopts  the  text-books  to  be  used  in  the  schools  of  the  county, 
and  contracts  with  publishers  for  the  sale  of  such  books, 
for  a  period  of  five  years,  at  designated  prices,  and  then  no 
other  book  can  be  legally  used  in  the  county  while  such  con- 
tract lasts.  The  adoptions  of  the  county  commission  do 
not  apply  to  all  the  schools  of  the  county;  they  apply  to  all 
except  those  in  cities  and  towns  having  one  thousand  children 
of  school  age  or  a  high  school  affiliated  with  the  State 
University. 

335.  Non-Sectarian  Education. — ^The  Constitution 
does  not  permit  the  public  school  funds  to  be  used  in  aid  of 
any  church  school.  There  is  a  great  number  of  such  schools 
in  Missouri.  The  various  churches  have  established  col- 
leges, seminaries,  academies  and  other  schools,  and  the 
people   who  contribute   to   them,   even    though   they   send 


388  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

their  children  to  them,  must  also  pay  their  share  of  taxes 
for  the  support  of  the  public  schools,  and  the  taxes  they  pay 
for  that  purpose  cannot  be  used  to  support  these  church  or 
private  schools.  The  Constitution  says  that  "neither  the 
General  Assembly,  nor  any  county,  city,  town,  township  or 
school  district  shall  ever  make  an  appropriation,  or  pay  from 
any  public  fund  whatever  anything  in  aid  of  any  religious 
creed,  church  or  sectarian  purpose,  or  to  help  to  support  or 
sustain  any  private  or  public  school,  academy,  seminary, 
college,  university  or  other  institution  of  learning,  controlled 
by  any  religious  creed,  church  or  sectarian  denomination." 
This  language  prevents  the  use  of  public  school  moneys  for 
any  school  except  for  such  as  the  State  has  directed  to  be 
established. 

336.  Exempt  From  Taxation. — But  it  is  not  the  pol- 
icy of  the  State  to  tax  church  or  private  schools,  for  any  pur- 
pose. The  Constitution  says  that  lots  to  the  extent  of  one 
acre  and  the  buildings  thereon,  within  any  incorporated  city 
or  within  one  mile  thereof,  if  "used  exclusively  for  religious 
worship,  for  schools  or  for  purposes  purely  charitable"  are 
exempt  from  taxation  of  all  kinds;  and  lots  to  the  extent  of 
five  acres  one  mile  or  more  distant  from  ^  such  city,  when 
used  for  such  purpose,  are  exempt  also. 

The  endowments  of  colleges  and  of  other  church  or  pri- 
vate schools,  if  they  consist  of  money  which  is  loaned,  are 
usually  not  taxed,  but  so  much  of  such  endowments  as  is 
invested  in  lands  is  taxed. 

Questions  on  Chapter  VIII. 

1.  What  is  the  purpose  of  education?     (310) 

2.  Why  were  public  schools  established?     (310) 

3.  Why  is  the  State  justified  in  laying  school  taxes?     (310) 

4.  How  are  the  state  schools  divided?     (310) 

5.  When  may  a  new  district  be  organized?     (311) 

6.  What  officers  has  each  common  school  district  ?     (311) 


PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  389 

7.  What  is  a  consolidated  school  district?     (311)     A  town  school? 

(311)     A  city  school?     (311) 

8.  What  are  the  first  three  powers  of  an  annual  school  meeting? 

(312) 

9.  What  powers  has  the  meeting  in  reference  to  a  school  house?     (312) 

10.  What  are  the  terms  and  qualifications  of  a  school  director?     (313) 

11.  Name  the  first  duty  of  the  school  board.     The  second.     (314). 

12.  Who  employs  teachers?     (314)     When  is  the  contract  binding? 

(314) 

13.  Repeat  the  fifth  duty  of  the  board.     (314) 

14.  Are  these  the  main  powers  and  duties  of  all  boards?     (314) 

15.  Discuss  a  consolidated  school  district.     (314a) 

16.  When  will  the  State  aid  it?     (314a) 

17.  Discuss  city  and  town  schools.     (315) 

18.  To  what  extent,  why  and  when  does  the  State  aid  a  town  or  city 

school?     (315-1) 

19.  Is  the  school  district  a  part  of  the  city  government?     (315-2) 

20.  How  about  school  boards  and  elections  in  large  cities?     (315-3) 

21.  What  additional  powers  have  these  boards?     (315-3) 

22.  What  is  the  school  day,  week  and  month?     (315a) 

23.  What    is    Missouri    Day?     Arbor    Day?     Bird    Day?     Frances 

Willard  Day?     (315b) 

24.  What  is  the  school  age?     (315c) 

25.  Does  the    Constitution  or  law  name  the  subjects  to  be  taught  or 

the  books  to  be  used?     (315d) 

26.  On  what  theory  are  the  school  laws  built?     (315d) 

27.  Who  name  the  subjects  to  be  taught  and  arrange  the  courses  of 

study?     (315d) 

28.  How  may  free  text-books  be  obtained?     (315e) 

29.  What  provision  for  libraries,  parks  and  play  grounds  may  a  city 

school  board  make?     (315f) 

30.  What  provisions  for  libraries  must  all  other  districts  make?     (315f) 

31.  How  are  the  books  selected  (1)  at  first  and  (2)  later?     (315f) 

32.  Discuss  compulsory  attendance.     (315g) 

33.  Discuss   child-labor    laws.     (315g) 

34.  Upon  what  principle  are  these  laws  founded?     (315g) 

35.  Discuss  vocational  training  (315h). 

36.  What  length  of  term  does  the  law  seek  to  compel?     (316) 

37.  To  what  rate  must  the  taxpayers  submit  and  when?     (316) 

38.  When  may  the  board  fix  a  less  rate?     (316) 

39.  When  is  the  board  bound  to  levy  forty  cents?     (316) 

40.  When  can  it  exceed  that  rate?     (316) 


390  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

41.  To  what  districts  does  this  forty-cent  rate  apply?     (316) 

42.  To  what  rate  and  for  what  purposes  may  these  rates  be  increased? 

(316) 

43.  What  is  meant  by  school  purposes?     (316) 

44.  When  and  how  does  the  State  help  a  district  to  maintain  an  eight- 

months'  school?     (316) 

45.  For  what  purposes  may  a  district  create  debts?     (317) 

46.  When  only  can  a  debt  be  created?     When  and  how  must  it  be 

paid?     (317) 

47.  How  and  to  what  extent  may  a  building  fund  be  created  for  a  year 

at  a  time?     (317) 

48.  Can  you  sum  up  in  a  few  sentences  what  is  said  of  the  various  tax 

rates?     (317) 

49.  What  is  said  of  the  power  of  taxpayers  to  fix  school  taxes?     (318) 

50.  Discuss  some  duties  of  State  Board  of  Education.     (319) 

51.  Name  the  various  school  funds.     (320) 

52.  Whence  came  the  money  that  constitutes  the  Public  School  Fund? 

(321)  How  is  the  income  applied?     (321) 

53.  Give  three  sources  from  which  the  Seminary  Fund  was  derived. 

(322)  How  is  the  income  applied?     (322) 

54.  Read  section  324  and  then  state  how  the  Public  School  Fund  and 

the  Seminary  Fund  are  invested. 

55.  How  much   of  the  State  revenues  are  appropriated  to  public 

schools?     (325)     How   is   it   apportioned   among   the  schools? 
(325) 

56.  How  is  the  County  School  Fund  derived,  loaned  and  apportioned? 

(326)     How  is  it  increasing?     (326) 

57.  Discuss  the  Township  School  Funds.     (327) 

58.  Read  what  is  said  of  Special  District  Funds.     (328) 

59.  How  much  do  the  schools  receive  above  local  taxes?     (329) 

60.  Read  what  is  said  about  the  costs  of  schools.     (329) 

61.  How  many  State  Normals  and  what  are  they  for?     (331) 

62.  What  further  is  done  for  training  teachers?     (331a) 

63.  What  about  schools  for  colored  children?     (332) 

64.  Mention  some  of  the  duties  of  County  Superintendent.     (333) 

65.  Read  what  is  said  about  teachers'  certificates.     (333) 

66.  Can  the  County  Superintendent  be  a  woman?     (333) 

67.  What  are  the  duties  of  the  Text-Book  Commissioner?     (334) 

68.  Can  public  school  moneys  be  used  to  aid  church  schools?     (335) 

69.  What  portion  of  property  of  church  schools  may  be  taxed?     (336) 


r 


ELECTIONS.  391 

CHAPTER  IX. 

ELECTIONS. 

337.  Purpose  of  Elections. — Americans  believe  in  the 
rule  of  the  people.  It  is  an  underlying  principle  in  America, 
one  that  no  man  has  ever  been  able  to  withstand,  that  the 
will  of  the  majority  shall  control ;  and  in  order  that  that  will 
may  be  known,  the  State  has  provided  for  elections  at  which 
each  citizen  may  express  by  his  ballot  his  choice  for  candidates 
or  for  a  political  principle.  As  this  is  the  people's  govern- 
ment, supported  by  taxes  collected  from  the  people,  the  people 
should  have  a  voice  in  choosing  the  officers  who  are  to  repre- 
sent them. 

338.  Time  of  Holding  Elections. — The  laws  of  Missouri 
require  a  general  election  to  be  held  throughout  the  State 
on  the  first  Tuesday  after  the  first  Monday  of  November 
in  each  even-numbered  year  for  the  election  of  all  State  and 
county  officers,  judges,  members  of  Congress  and  State  Sena- 
tors, whose  terms  are  about  to  expire.  The  Governor,  Secre- 
tary of  State,  State  Auditor,  State  Treasurer,  Attorney- 
General,  and  at  least  one  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  one 
judge  of  each  of  the  courts  of  appeals  are  elected  on  the  same 
day  that  Presidential  electors  are  chosen  (leap  years),  and 
Representatives  in  Congress  and  in  the  General  Assembly, 
and  half  the  State  Senators  are  elected  at  the  same  time. 
Two  years  later  the  Superintendent  of  Public  Schools,  at  least 
one  Supreme  Judge,  one-half  of  the  State  Senators,  and 
Representatives  in  Congress  and  in  the  General  Assembly, 
are  elected.  And  at  one  or  the  other  of  these  general  elections 
county  officers,  and  once  in  six  years  judges  of  the  circuit 
court,  are  elected ;  and  at  two  of  every  three  general  elections 
a  United  States  Senator  is  elected.  It  should  be  observed 
that  nearly  all  the  State  officers  are  elected  at  the  same  time 


392  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

Presidential  electors  are  chosen;  and  that  at  the  general 
election  two  years  later  the  most  of  the  county  officers  are 
elected. 

339.  Precincts. — In  order  that  each  citizen  may  have 
full  opportunity  to  cast  his  ballot,  the  law  provides  that  the 
county  court  of  each  county  shall,  several  weeks  before  an 
election,  designate  a  voting  place  in  each  township  of  the  coun- 
ty, and  more  than  one  if  the  convenience  of  the  inhabitants 
may  require  it.  This  voting  place  is  called  a  precinct.  The 
sheriff  is  required  to  provide  two  ballot  boxes  for  each  pre- 
cinct, and  to  turn  them  over  to  the  constable,  who  on  the 
morning  of  the  election  delivers  them  to  the  judges  of  the 
election. 

340.  Judges '  and  Clerks. — The  county  court  is  also 
required  to  appoint  for  each  precinct  six  judges  of  election, 
who  in  turn  appoint  four  clerks.  Three  of  the*  judges  are 
taken  from  the  political  party  that  polled  the  largest  number 
of  votes  at  the  last  general  election,  and  three  from  the  party 
that  polled  the  next  highest  number.  Two  of  these  judges, 
one  from  each  party,  write  their  names  or  initials  on  the  back 
of  the  tickets  and  deliver  one  of  each  party  to  each  voter, 
who  takes  them  to  a  booth  provided  for  the  purpose,  where 
he  can  be  free  from  observation.  There  he  folds  the  one  he 
wishes  to  vote  apart  to  itself,  so  as  to  expose  the  initials  or 
names  of  the  judges  thereon,  and  then  hands  it  to  one  of  two 
other  judges  called  "receiving  judges."  If  the  judges  deem 
him  a  legal  voter  this  ticket  is  deposited  in  the  ballot  box, 
and  his  name  and  the  number  of  his  vote  are  entered  in  the 
two  poll-books  by  the  clerks,  and  the  number  of  his  vote  is 
also  written  on  this  ticket.  The  other  tickets  which  were 
handed  to  him  he  must  fold  together,  and  return  to  the  same 
judges,  who  place  them  in  another  large  box,  where  they  are 
kept  until  after  the  election  is  over  and  then  destroyed. 
After  the  voting  has*  continued  in  this  way  for  an  hour  the 
other  two  judges,  called  "counting  judges,"  and  two  clerks 


r 


ELECTIONS.  393 

begin  to  count  the  votes  that  have  been  cast,  and  while  they 
are  doing  this  the  election  continues,  the  accepted  tickets 
^,  or  votes  of  other  persons  being  deposited  in  the  other  ballot 
box.  At  the  end  of  the  second  hour  the  counting  of  the  tick- 
ets deposited  in  the  first  ballot  box  should  be  completed,  and 
that  ballot  box  returned  to  the  polling  place.  Then  the 
counting  judges  take  the*  second  ballot  box  and  proceed  to 
count  the  tickets  in  it,  and  while  they  are  doing  so  tickets  of 
other  voters  are  placed  in  the  first  ballot  box.  Thus  the 
voting  and  counting  continue  throughout  the  day. 

When  the  polls  are  closed  and  all  the  ballots  counted, 
the  number  of  votes  cast  and  the  number  for  each  candidate 
are  entered  in  each  poll-book,  and  these  are  signed  by  the 
judges  and  attested  by  the  clerks,  and  the  result  of  the  elec- 
tion is  publicly  proclaimed.  One  of  the  poll-books  is  trans- 
mitted to  the  county  clerk  within  two  days,  and  the  other  is 
retained  in  the  possession  of  the  judges  of  election,  open  to 
the  inspection  of  all  persons. 

341.  Secret  Ballot. — No  one  has  any  right  to  know 
how  any  man  votes.  Safeguards  have  been  provided  to 
secure  a  secret  ballot,  in  order  that  the  voter  may  be  relieved 
of  any  intimidation,  and  be  entirely  free  to  vote  as  he  desires. 
No  one  is  allowed  to  attempt,  in  anywdse,  to  influence  his  vote 
within  the  polling  place.  No  one  is  permitted  to  go  with 
him  to  the  booth  where  he  prepares  his  ticket;  if  he  cannot 
prepare  it  himself  it  must  be  done  by  two  judges  of  different 
political  parties,  in  his  presence,  not  in  the  booth,  but  at  the 
place  within  the  polls  where  the  judges  usually  stand  and 
hand  out  the  tickets.  .  No  one  is  permitted  to  unfold  or  see 
the  voter's  ticket  before  it  is  placed  in  the  ballot  box,  and 
after  it  is  placed  there  only  the  counting  judges  and  clerks 
(who  can  not  know  whose  ticket  it  is)  are  permitted  to  unfold 
it,  in  order  to  properly  count  it,  and  when  that  is  done  it  is 
securely  locked  in  a  box,  and  can  never  be  examined  by  any- 
one except  by  order  of  a  court,  or  of  some  other  authorized 


fe 


f 
394  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

officer,  in  a  contest  over  the  result  of  the  election.  Before 
the  judges  enter  upon  their  duties  at  an  election,  they  are 
required  to  take  an  oath  that  they  will  not  disclose  how  any 
voter  may  vote,  unless  required  to  do  so  as  a  witness  in  a 
proper  contest  proceeding. 

342.  Ballots. — ^The  tickets  for  a  general  election  are 
furnished  by  the  county.  The  county  clerk  superintends  the 
printing  of  them  and  delivers  them  to  the  judges  of  elec- 
tion, and  they  are  prohibited  from  permitting  anyone  to  get 
possession  of  a  ticket  except  a  voter  ready  and  desiring  to 
vote,  and  he  cannot  take  it  from  the  polls.  In  order  to  have 
an  entirely  secret  ballot  it  is  necessary  that  the  county  fur- 
nish the  tickets,  and  that  the  greatest  precaution  be  taken 
that  no  person  except  those  lawfully  entitled  to  them  at  any 
time  before  the  close  of  the  election  obtains  possession  of 
them.  Each  party  has  a  ticket  of  its  own,  and  one  ticket 
of  each  party  is  handed  to  the  voter  by  the  judges  when  he 
applies  to  them  to  vote.  On  each  party  ticket  are  the  names 
of  all  the  candidates  of  that  party  properly  nominated  for 
the  various  offices  to  be  filled. 

343.  How  Candidates  are  Nominated. — In  former  years 
each  political  party  could  nominate  its  candidates  for  office 
in  its  own  way.  But  the  law  now  requires  all  candidates  for 
state,  district  or  county  offices  to  be  nominated  at  a  primary 
election  to  be  held  on  the  first  Tuesday  in  August  preceding 
the  general  election.  All  parties  must  nominate  their  candi- 
dates in  that  way  and  all  on  the  same  day.  These  primary 
elections  are  held  in  much  the  same  way  as  general  elections 
in  November.  There  are  the  same  precinct  judges  and 
clerks,  appointed  by  the  county  court,  and  the  county  pays 
all  costs  of  the  election.  There  must  be  a  ticket  for  each 
party,  and  on  each  ticket  is  printed  the  title  of  each  office 
and  underneath  the  title  the  names  of  all  the  candidates 
of  that  party  for  that  office.  Any  candidate  for  a  state  or 
district  office  can  have  his  name  printed  on  his  party's  ticket 


ELECTIONS.  395 

by  filing  a  written  declaration  designating  the  office  for  which 
he  is  a  candidate,  and  paying  a  certain  sum  of  money  to  the 
treasurer  of  the  party  committee.  Every  legal  voter  in  the 
State  can  vote  at  a  primary  election,  but  he  can  only  vote 
his  party  ticket,  and  the  judges  of  election  give  him  only  the 
ticket  of  the  party  he  wishes  to  affiliate  with.  The  candidate 
who  receives  the  highest  number  of  votes  cast  by  his  party 
for  the  office  for  which  he  was  a  candidate  becomes  the  party's 
candidate  for  that  office.  The  votes  are  counted  by  the 
judges  of  election,  county  clerk  and  Secretary  of  State  in 
much  the  same  way  as  are  the  votes  cast  at  the  general  elec- 
tion in  November. 

Presidential  electors  are  not  nominated  in  this  v/ay. 
They  are  nominated  by  party  conventions.  Neither  are  can- 
didates for  city  offices  (except  in  the  city  of  St.  Louis)  or 
school  directors  or  county  school  superintendent  nominated 
in  this  way.  But  all  candidates  for  State  offices,  Senator  or 
Representative  in  Congress,  State  Senator,  Circuit  Judge  and 
all  county  officers  elected  in  November,  are  nominated  at 
this  primary   election. 

344.  Independent  Voting. — But  no  person  who  takes 
part  in  any  primary  election  or  convention  is  required  by  law 
to  vote  his  party  ticket  at  the  general  election  in  November. 
He  can  vote  for  whom  he  pleases.  The  law  requires  a  blank 
line  to  be  left  after  each  name  on  each  printed  ticket,  and  if 
the  voter  does  not  wish  to  vote  for  the  man  who  bears  that 
name,  he  can  scratch  out  the  name  and  write  in  that  of  any 
candidate  on  any  other  ticket,  or  that  of  a  person  whose  name 
is  not  on  any  ticket. 

345.  Counting  the  Vote. — One  of  the  poll-books  of  each 
precinct,  certified  to  by  the  judges  and  clerks  of  the  election, 
must  be  transmitted  to  the  county  clerk  within  two  days 
after  the  election.  Within  five  days  after  the  election  he 
and  two  justices  of  the  peace,  or  two  judges  of  the  county 
court,  cast  up  the  number  of  votes  polled  at  each  precinct 


396  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

in  the  county,  as  shown  by  the  poll-books,  and  to  each  county 
officer  receiving  the  highest  number  of  votes  he  issues  a  cer- 
tificate of  election,  and  certifies  to  the  Secretary  of  State  the 
number  of  votes  cast  for  State  officers,  judges,  Presidential 
electors  and  Senator  and  Representatives  in  Congress,  and 
that  officer  casts  up  the  vote  in  all  the  counties  for  Governor, 
Lieutenant-Governor,  Secretary  of  State,  Auditor,  Treasurer, 
Attorney-General,  Railroad  Commissioner,  and  Superintend- 
ent of  Public  Schools,  and  sends  these  returns  to  the  Speaker 
of  the  House,  who,  in  the  presence  and  under  the  control  of 
the  Senate  and  the  House,  opens  and  publishes  the  same. 
The  votes  for  candidates  for  all  other  state  or  district  offices 
and  for  Congressmen  are  counted  by  the  Secretary  of  State 
in  the  presence  of  the  Governor,  and  to  the  person  receiving 
the  highest  number  of  votes  is  issued  a  certificate  of  election. 

346.  Disposing  of  Ballots. — Each  ticket  offered  to 
the  judges  of  election  by  any  person  wishing  it  to  be  received 
as  his  vote,  whether  received  and  counted  or  rejected  as 
illegal,  is  transmitted  to  the  county  clerk,  along  with  the 
poll-book.  He  securely  keeps  the  tickets,  and  is  not  allowed 
to  read  or  examine  them  unless  commanded  to  do  so  by  some 
court  or  the  Legislature,  nor  to  permit  any  one  else  to  do  so. 
At  the  end  of  one  year  he  destroys  them.  The  rejected  bal- 
lots are  sent  in,  in  order  that  the  court  may  determine,  in 
case  of  a  contest,  whether  they  were  properly  rejected  or  not, 
and  if  they  were  not  direct  them  to  be  counted. 

347.  Hours  of  Voting. — The  law  requires  that  the 
polls  shall  be  open  at  six  o'clock  in  the  morning  and  be  con- 
tinued open  till  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening,  unless  the  sun 
shall  set  after  seven  o'clock,  in  which  case  they  shall  be  kept 
open  till  sunset,  except  in  cities  having  more  than  twenty- 
five  thousand  inhabitants.  In  them  the  election  begins  at 
six  o'clock  in  the  morning  and  continues  to  seven  in  the  evening. 

348.  In  St.  Louis  and  Kansas  City. — There  must  be  one 
precinct  in  each  ward  in  the  city  of  St.  Louis  and  Kansas  City, 


ELECTIONS.  397 

and  as  nearly  as  practicable  one  for  every  three  hundred 
voters.  By  a  law  applicable  to  these  cities  only,  the  details 
of  elections  there  are  somewhat  different  from  those  in  the 
rest  of  the  State. 

There  is  no  county  court  in  St.  Louis,  and  hence  the 
Legislature  has  enacted  a  law  that  election  judges  and  clerks 
in  that  city  shall  be  appointed  by  a  board  of  four  election 
commissioners,  not  more  than  two  of  whom  belong  to  one 
political  party.  The  commissioners  are  appointed  by  the 
Governor.  Those  belonging  to  the  same  party  as  the  Gov- 
ernor choose  from  their  own  party  two  election  judges  and 
one  clerk  for  each  precinct  in  the  city,  and  the  other  com- 
missioners choose  two  judges  and  one  clerk  from  their  party, 
and  these  four  judges  and  two  clerks  have  charge  of  the 
registration  of  voters  and  elections  at  that  precinct.  And 
this  board  of  commissioners  adds  up  the  votes  cast  at  the 
various  precincts  in  the  city  and  certifies  the  result,  just  as 
the  county  clerks  do  in  the  counties. 

There  is  a  like  board  of  election  commissioners  in  Kansas 
City,  with  like  duties  to  perform,  also  appointed  by  the 
Governor. 

349.  Registration  of  Voters.  —  In  all  cities  of  twenty- 
five  thousand  inhabitants  voters  must  be  registered  before 
the  election,  and  no  person  can  vote  there  whose  name  does 
not  appear  on  the  registration  books.  The  registration  com- 
mences usually  forty  days  before  and  is  continued  on  various 
days  to  within  a  few  days  of  the  election.  In  cities  having 
between  twenty-five  and  one  hundred  thousand  inhabitants 
the  registration  is  done  by  a  special  officer  denominated  a 
registrar,  elected  by  the  people  in  each  election  district,  and 
all  the  registrars  in  the  city  meet  as  a  board  of  revision  a  few 
days  before  the  election,  and  determine  the  right  of  any 
person  to  have  his  name  enrolled  who  has  been  denied  that 
right,  and  strike  off  from  any  registration  book  any  name 
which  is  shown  to  have  been  wrongfully  enrolled.     In  the 


398  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

larger  cities  the  registration  is  done  by  the  judges  of  election 
and  clerks,  under  the  supervision  of  the  election  commis- 
sioners. 

The  registration  of  voters  in  cities  is  necessary  to  pre- 
serve the  honesty  of  the  ballot.  There  are  always  some 
legal  voters  living  in  such  cities  who  are  not  known  to  the 
election  judges,  and  they  should  be  given  ample  time  to  show 
their  legal  right  to  vote  before  election  day,  and  not  have  to 
run  the  risk  of  being  challenged  at  the  time  they  offer  their 
ballots,  when  perhaps  they  could  not  readily  bring  forward 
persons  who  can  establish  their  right  to  vote.  There  is  also 
danger  that  "floaters"  and  "repeaters"  may  undertake  to 
vote  in  such  cities  unless  they  are  in  some  way  headed  off. 
"Repeaters"  are  men  that  try  to  vote  at  more  than  one  pre- 
cinct in  the  city.  "Floaters"  are  persons  hired  to  come  from 
other  states  or  counties  and  vote.  Frauds  of  this  kind  are 
very  much  more  likely  to  occur  in  cities  than  in  small  towns 
and  rural  counties  where  almost  every  one  knows  every  legal 
voter  in  the  township  and  the  precinct  to  which  he  belongs. 
To  prevent  such  frauds,  voters  in  such  cities  are  required  to 
register  some  time  before  election,  and  in  this  way  fraudulent 
voters  may  be  discovered  and  the  voting  list  purged  of  them. 

350.  Qualification  of  Voters. — Every  maie  citizen  of 
the  United  States  (and  every  male  person  of  foreign  birth 
who  may  have  declared  his  intention  to  become  a  citizen  of 
the  United  States  according  to  law,  not  less  than  one  year  nor 
more  than  five  years  before  he  offers  to  vote),  who  is  twenty- 
one  years  Of  age,  shall  be  entitled  to  vote,  except  (1)  soldiers 
or  sailors  in  the  army  or  navy,  (2)  persons  kept  at  a  poor 
house  or  an  asylum  at  public  expense,  and  (3)  any  person 
convicted  of  a  felony  and  not  pardoned.  But  before  a  cit- 
izen twenty-one  years  of  age  can  vote  he  must  have  resided 
in  the  State  at  least  one  year,  and  in  the  county  or  city  or 
town  at  least  sixty  days,  and  he  can  vote  only  in  the  election 
district  in  which  he  resides. 


ELECTIONS.  399 

350a.  Absent  Voters. — But  provision  is  made  by  which 
an  absent  voter  may  cast  his  vote  and  have  it  counted  in  the 
precinct  in  which  he  resides.  Any  railroad  trainman,  or 
traveHng  salesman,  or  college  student,  or  any  other  person 
who  is  unavoidably  absent  from  the  county  of  his  residence 
on  a  general  election  day,  if  a  qualified  voter  there,  may  appear 
at  the  polling  place  of  the  precinct  in  which  he  happens  to  be, 
provided  it  is  some  precinct  within  this  State,  and  cast  a  legal 
ballot  in  the  presence  of  the  judges,  who  turn  it  over  to  the 
county  clerk,  who  in  turn  sends  it  by  mail  to  the  county  clerk 
of  the  county  or  board  of  election  commissioners  of  the  city 
where  he  resides,  and  on  the  day  the  clerk  or  commissioners 
canvass  the  votes  sent  in  by  the  judges  of  election  his  vote  is 
added  and  counted  along  with  the  others. 

Questions  on  Chapter  IX. 

1.  What  is  an  underlying  principle  in  America?     (337)  — 

2.  Why  are  elections  provided?     (337) 

3.  When  are  general  elections  held?     (338)  ^ 

4.  What  is  a  precinct?     (339) 

5.  Who  provides  the  ballot  boxes?     (339) 

6.  Whoappoints  judges  of  elections?     (340) 

7.  How  many  judges  and  clerks?     (340) 

8.  Describe  in  detail  the  method  of  voting  and  counting.     (340) 

9.  What  is  done  when  the  polls  are  closed?     (340) 

10.  What  is  said  of  a  secret  ballot?     (341) 

11.  Can  the  judges  honestly  know  how  any  one  has  voted?     (341) 

12.  When  only  can  that  be  revealed?     (3^1) 

13.  Who  furnishes  the  tickets?     (342) 

14.  '  Why  is  it  necessary  for  the  county  to  furnish  them?     (342) 

15.  How  are  party  candidates  now  nominated?     What  candidates 

are  nominated  in  this  way  and  what  not?     (343) 

16.  Who  pays  the  expenses  of  a  primary  election?     How  are  the  votes 

counted?     (343) 

17.  What  provision  is  made  for  independent  voting?     (344) 

18.  Whocountsthe  votes  cast  in  the  county?     (345) 

19.  Does  he  use  the  ballots  or  poll-books  for  that  purpose?     (345) 

20.  Who  gets  the  certificate  of  election?     (345) 

21.  Wbat  does  he  do  in  reference  to  the  vote  for  state  officers,  etc.? 

(345) 


400  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MiSSOtJRI. 

22.  Who  casts  up  the  votes  for  those  officers?     (345) 

23.  What  is  done  with  the  tickets  offered  to  the  judges  of  election? 

(346) 

24.  What  are  the  hours  of  voting?     (347) 

25.  How  many  precincts  in  St.  Louis  and  Kansas  City?     (348) 

26.  Who  take  the  place  of  county  court  in  those  cities?     (348) 

27.  How  are  they  chosen?     (348) 

28.  Who  casts  up  the  votes  cast  in  those  cities?     (348) 

29.  Where  are  voters  registered?     (349) 

30.  How  is  the  registration  made  in  cities  having  between  25  and  100 

thousand  population?     (349) 

3L  By  whom  is  it  done  in  larger  cities?     (349) 

32.  Why  does  registration  seem  necessary?     (349) 

33.  Who  may  vote  in  Missouri?     (350) 

34.  How  may  an  absent  voter  have  his  vote  counted?     (350a) 


CHAPTER   X. 

TAXATION. 


351.  Importance  of  Subject. — Much  has  been  said 
in  previous  chapters  about  taxation.  It  is  the  subject  in 
which  every  citizen  is  constantly  interested.  It  can  never 
grow  old  while  government  lasts.  Nor  can  it  ever  be  said  to 
be  settled.  A  rate  of  taxation  which  was  just  ten  years  ago 
may  be  unjust  in  ten  years  from  now,  or  a  method  of  taxation 
which  was  once  wise  may  no  longer  be  wise. 

352.  Purpose  of  Taxation. — Taxes  are  the  burden 
which  the  people  bear  for  the  support  of  government.  In 
return  for  those  taxes,  the  people  should  be  given  the  best 
government  that  can  be  had  for  that  amount  of  money. 
Money  raised  by  taxation  does  not  belong  to  the  officers;  it 
can  be  used  by  them  only  for  the  purposes  for  which  it  was 
raised.  Of  course,  a  part  of  it  will  be  used  to  pay  officers  for 
the  work  they  perform  for  the  government,  and  that  is  just. 
Officers  are  necessary  for  the  performance  of  the  work  which 
the  people  wish  the  government  to  do  for  them ;  they  are  the 
government's  agents,  its  trustees,  its  representatives.     Thus, 


I 


TAXATION.  401 

the  teacher  of  a  public  school,  the  circuit  judge,  the  Governor, 
are  government  officers,  and  much  of  the  moneys  raised  by 
taxation  may  be  consumed  in  paying  them  and  other  of  the 
various  officers  of  the  government  for  the  work  they  do  for 
the  government,  but  government  does  not  exist  simply  to 
pay  salaries  to  officers.  The  purpose  of  government  is  "to 
protect  the  people  in  their  right  to  life,  liberty  and  the  pur- 
suit of  happiness;"  to  "promote  the  general  welfare  of  the 
people,"  to  maintain  the  public  peace,  to  keep  men  from 
injuring  each  other,  to  establish  law  and  order,  to  protect 
nien  in  the  peaceable  enjoyment  of  their  property  and  their 
personal  rights.  Every  duty  of  government  is  comprehended 
in  some  one  of  these  purposes,  and  the  people  are  taxed  to 
meet  the  government's  expenses  in  carrying  out  these  purposes. 
They  cannot  justly  be  taxed  for  any  other  purpose.  But 
the  government  can  act  only  through  officers.  A  govern- 
ment could  no  more  be  maintained  without  officers  than  a 
large  store  could  be  conducted  without  clerks.  But  officers 
cannot  justl}^  be  expected  to  leave  their  private  business  and 
perform  for  nothing  the  duties  which  the  government  im- 
poses on  them,  and  hence  a  part  of  the  taxes  must  always  go 
towards  paying  them  for  their  services.  But  unless  the  office 
accomplishes  some  good  purpose,  unless  it  is  in  some  way 
useful  to  the  people,  it  should  be  abolished,  and  that  much 
taxes  saved  to  the  people  or  applied  in  some  other  way. 

So  the  questions  of  how  much  tax  shall  be  levied,  on 
what  things,  and  how  it  shall  be  expended,  are  ever-present 
and  every  man  who  pays  taxes  is  concerned  in  them. 

353.  Why  the  People  are  Taxed. — Taxes  are  collected 
for  the  support  of  the  government.  The  government  has 
no  way  of  its  own  to  make  money.  It  cannot  engage  in 
farming  or  merchandising  or  other  business  for  gain.  It  has 
no  money  except  what  it  takes  from  the  people. 

354.  Exemption  From  Taxation. — Certain  property  is 
exempt   from   taxation.     No   court   houvse,   no   city   hall,   no 

2C 


402  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

school  house,  no  cemetery,  no  public  street  or  road,  is  tax- 
able; nor  is  any  building  belonging  to  any  county  or  to  the 
State  or  to  the  United  States.  Nor  is  any  church  or  hospital 
or  school  or  lodge  .building,  used  exclusively  for  religious  or 
charitable  or  educational  purposes,  to  the  extent  of  one  acre 
if  located  within  any  city,  and  to  the  extent  of  five  acres  if 
situated  outside  of  the  city,  taxable.  But  unless  used  ex- 
clusively for  some  one  of  those  purposes  the  real  estate  is 
taxable;  and  all  the  real  estate  belonging  to  any  church 
or  hospital  or  lodge  in  excess  of  one  acre  if  situate  within  an 
incorporated  town,  or  in  excess  of  five  acres  if  it  is  outside  of 
such  town,  is  taxable,  whether  or  not  it  is  exclusively  so  used. 
Their  endowments,  if  they  consist  of  money  or  are  invested  in 
notes,  if  used  exclusively  for  some  one  of  those  purposes,  and 
their  furniture,  are  not  taxable.  No  other  property  is  exempt 
from  taxation.  For  the  payment  of  private  debts,  the  home- 
stead and  certain  private  property  of  the  homesteader  cannot 
be  sold;  but  the  homestead  is  taxable  just  the  same  as  other 
property. 

But  no  property  is  free  from  paying  its  share  of  benefit 
assessments.  For  the  construction  of  sidewalks,  and  paving 
streets,  and  the  building  of  district  sewers,  churches  and 
private  school  lots  and  private  cemeteries  and  private  hos- 
pitals must  pay  their  just  proportion  of  the  cost,  just  as  lots 
occupied  by  stores  and  banks. 

355.  Uniformity  of  the  Tax  Rate. — The  amount  of 
direct  taxes  each  person  must  pay,  in  every  case,  except  poll- 
taxes,  depends  on  the  amount  of  property  the  person  owns. 
All  the  property  any  person  owns  is  required  to  be  assessed 
or  valued,  and  then  the  law  fixes  a  uniform  rate  of  taxes 
against  property  according  to  its  value.  That  rate  is  a  certain 
per  cent  of  the  assessed  value  of  the  property  taxed.  For 
school  purposes  it  is  the  same  against  all  property  in  the 
school  district,  for  city  purposes  it  is  the  same  against  all 
property  in  the  city,  for  county  purposes  it  is  the  same  against 


TAXATION.  403 

all  property  in  the  county,  for  state  purposes  it  is  the  same 
against  all  property  in  the  State.  City  taxes,  of  course,  may 
be  higher  in  one  city  than  in  another,  and  county  taxes  may 
be  higher  in  one  county  than  in  another,  and  school  taxes  may 
be  higher  in  one  school  district  than  in  another;  but  all  the 
inhabitants  in  the  city,  or  the  county,  or  the  school  district, 
must  pay  the  same  number  of  cents  for  each  hundred  dollars' 
worth  of  assessed  property  they  possess,  and  the  only  way 
they  can  escape  taxation  is  to  escape  assessment,  and  the 
only  way  they  can  escape  assessment  is  to  either  dodge  the 
assessor  and  conceal  their  property  or  to  falsify  to  him  the 
amount  of  property  they  own;  and  for  an  attempt  to  escape 
taxation  in  any  of  these  ways  the  law  affixes  penalties,  which 
are  set  forth  in  section  275. 

356.  Separate  Taxes  for  Separate  Purposes. — ^There 
is  a  tax  for  school  purposes,  and  another  tax  for  city  purpxDses, 
and  another  for  county  purposes,  and  another  for  state  pur- 
poses, and  each  property-owner  must  pay  taxes  for  these 
various  purposes.  The  inhabitants  of  no  city,  for  instance, 
can  escape  taxes  for  state  or  county  or  school  purposes  simply 
because  they  pay  taxes  for  the  support  of  the  government  of 
the  city  in  which  they  live.  The  city,  the  county,  the  school 
district  are  all  separate  subdivisions  of  the  government,  and 
for  the  support  of  government  in  each  separate  taxes  are 
levied,  and  when  collected  can  be  used  only  for  that  purpose. 
There  are  other  duties  of  government  which  cannot  be  per- 
formed by  any  county,  or  city  or  school  district,  but  only  by 
the  State  as  a  whole,  and  hence  taxes  must  also  be  collected 
to  support  the  State  government. 

357.  Place  of  Taxation. — Real  estate  (and  that  means 
lands  or  lots,  and  the  houses  and  buildings  thereon)  is  taxed 
in  the  county,  or  city  or  school  district  in  which  it  is  situated. 
But  personal  property  (and  that  means  almost  all  other  prop- 
erty, such  as  cattle,  notes,  money,  wagons,  etc.,)  is  taxed  in 
the  county,  city  or  school  district  in  which  the  owner  resides. 


404  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

The  law  phrase  is  that  "personalty  follows  the  person."  That 
means  that  the  resident  in  the  country  may  have  a  great  deal 
of  personal  property,  such  as  moneys  or  notes,  etc.,  in  a  city, 
but  it  is  not  taxable  in  that  city  for  city  or  school  purposes, 
but  is  taxable  for  school  purposes  in  the  country  district  in 
which  he  resides,  and  not  for  city  purposes  at  all. 

358.  Time  of  Assessment. — The  owner  of  property 
may  be  at  one  place  on  the  first  day  of' June  and  at  another 
place  on  the  day  he  is  actually  assessed.  In  order  that  he 
may  not  be  taxed  twice  the  law  does  not  seek  to  know  the 
amount  of  personal  property  he  owns  on  the  day  he  is  actu- 
ally assessed,  but  the  amount  he  owned  on  some  recent  day 
in  the  past.  That  day  is  by  law  the  first  day  of  June.  He 
may  between  the  first  of  June  and  the  day  he  is  actually 
assessed  move  to  another  place,  but  he  is  assessable  at  the 
place  at  which  he  resides  on  the  first  day  of  June,  and  all  the 
personal  property  he  owned  on  that  date,  wherever  situated, 
is  taxable  at  that  place.  He  is  also  taxable  on  all  the  real 
estate  which  he  owned  on  the  first  day  of  June,  but  that  is 
taxable  where  it  is. 

359.  Rate  for  State  Purposes. — The  annual  rate  of 
taxation  for  state  purposes  was  by  the  present  Constitution 
to  be  fixed  at  twenty  cents  on  the  hundred  dollars  valuation 
until  all  the  property  in  the  State  should  reach  a  valuation  of 
nine  hundred  millon  dollars,  after  which  it  was  not  to  exceed 
fifteen  cents  on  the  hundred  dollars.  The  assessed  value  of  all 
property  in  Missouri  has  for  more  than  twenty  years  been 
more  than  nine  hundred  million  dollars,  in  fact  is  now  close 
to  twice  that  sum,  and,  therefore,  the  tax  rate  for  ordi- 
nary state  purposes  cannot  exceed  fifteen  cents  on  each 
hundred  dollars  of  valuation.  Hence  one  whose  property  is 
assessed  at  $1,000  will  pay  $1.50  for  ordinary  state  purposes, 
and  one-third  of  that  amount  will  go  to  support  the  public 
schools,  and  the  balance  will  be  used  by  the  State  in  paying 
its  current  expenses — in  paying  its  officers  and  the  cost  of 


TAXATION.  405 

prosecuting  criminals,  in  supporting  the  State  University  and 
the  six  Normals,  in  maintaining  the  hospitals  for  the  insane, 
•       the  feeble  minded  and  consumptives,  the  State  Fair  and  the 
penitentiary,  and  in  meeting  its  many  other  obligations. 

360.  Rates  to  Pay  State  Debt.— The  Constitution  also 
provided  that,  in  addition  to  the  tax  to  pay  the  State's  ordi- 
nary current  expenses,  there  should  be  levied  each  year  a  tax 
sufficient  to  pay  the  interest  and  a  part  of  the  principal  of  the 
state  debt,  which  at  the  time  of  its  adoption  amounted  to 
nearly  twenty-five  million  dollars.  All  the  state  debt  except 
that  due  the  Seminary  Fund  and  the  Public  School  Fund  had 
been  paid  by  1903,  and  in  1902  the  Constitution  was  so  amend- 
ed as  to  provide  that  only  so  much  tax  to  pay  the  state  debt 
should  thereafter  be  levied  as  is  necessary  to  pay  the  interest 
due  those  funds.  The  tax  necessar>^  to  pay  the  interest  each 
year  does  not  exceed  two  cents  on  the  hundred  dollars*  valua- 
tion, and  all  moneys  arising  from  it  can  be  used  for  no  other 
purpose.  When  added  to  the  fifteen  cents  that  may  be  levied 
for  ordinary  state  purposes,  the  entire  rate  of  direct  taxes  for 
state  purposes  does  not  exceed  seventeen  cents  on  the  hundred 
dollars  of  valuation. 

361.  Licenses  and  Fees. — But  the  taxes  spoken  of  in 
section  359  do  not  constitute  all  the  state  revenues;  in  fact, 
scarcely  one-half  of  them.  Nearly  half  of  those  revenues,  in 
some  years  more  than  half,  are  raised  by  license  fees  collected 
from  saloons,  inspection  fees  collected  for  the  inspection  of 
beer,  license  and  other  fees  collected  from  insurance  com- 
panies, commission  fees  collected  from  notaries  public  and 
other  officers  commissioned  by  the  Governor,  incorporation 
fees  collected  from  corporations  permitted  to  do  business  in 
this  State,  and  other  fees  collected  from  other  things. 

362.  Rate    for    County,    City    and    School    Purposes. 

— The  rate  of  direct  taxes  for  county  purposes  has  been  dis- 
cussed in  the  chapter  on  Counties,  and  that  for  city  purposes 


406  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

in  the  chapter  on  Cities,  Towns  and  Villages,  and  that  for 
school  purposes  in  the  chapter  on  Public  Schools. 

363.  License  Taxes. — The  State,  the  county  and  the 
city  have  other  ways  of  raising  revenue  besides  a  direct  ad 
valorem  tax  levied  against  property.  They  do  so  by  means 
of  some  kind  of  license  or  inspection  tax.  The  State  imposes 
registration  or  license  fees  against  automobiles  and  corpora- 
tions, an  inspection  fee  against  beer,  and  many  other  license 
or  inspection  fees.  The  county  may  impose  a  license  tax 
on  saloons,  and  on  shows  and  circuses,  on  peddlers  and 
auctioneers,  on  private  bankers  and  brokers,  and  some 
other  things.  The  city  may  impose  a  license  tax  on  saloons, 
on  dray  wagons,  merchants,  breweries,  shooting  galleries 
and  on  hundreds  of  other  things.  In  this  way  the  revenues 
of  the  State,  and  of  the  county  and  of  the  city  may  be  In- 
creased.    A  school  district  can  levy  no  license  tax  of  any  kind. 

364.  Occupation  Taxes. — Every  city  is  given  power 
to  levy  a  tax  on  merchants,  peddlers,  shows,  shooting  galler- 
ies, vehicles  and  dray  wagons,  for  the  privilege  of  doing  busi- 
ness in  the  city.  Such  a  tax  is  called  an  occupation  tax. 
Such  taxes  are  usually  small,  and  ought  always  to  be  com- 
mensurate with  the  advantages  which  such  persons  have  over 
other  persons.  Thus,  a  dray  wagon  will  use  the  streets  more 
than  an  ordinary  buggy  or  wagon;  the  policeman  will  spend 
more  time  in  preserving  order  about  a  store  than  about  a 
private  residence;  in  a  certain  district  a  fire  would  cause  far 
more  damage  than  in  other  parts  of  the  city,  and  hence  more 
caution  will  be  taken  to  prevent  fire  there.  It  is  nothing  but 
right,  therefore,  that  the  owner  of  the  dray  wagon,  the  mer- 
chant or  the  factory  owner,  should  pay  some  additional  tax 
for  the  special  privileges  or  protection  he  enjoys,  and  that  is 
the  reason  for  levying  occupation  taxes.  They  are  taxes 
which  persons  wishing  to  carry  on  a  certain  kind  of  business 
must  pay  for  that  privilege. .  An  auctioneer's  license  is  such  a 
tax.    So  is  a  license  to  a  circus  and  many  other  things.     Every 


TAXATION.  407 

city  is  given  the  right  to  levy  an  occupation  tax  on  many  kinds 
of  pursuits,  and  the  larger  the  city  (that  is,  the  higher  is  its 
class)  the  more  of  such  things  it  may  tax.  But  no  city  can  im- 
pose such  a  tax  on  anything  unless  the  Legislature  has  in  so 
many  words  given  it  power  to  do  so.  All  license  taxes  of  every 
kind,  whether  levied  for  state,  or  county  or  city  purposes,  are  in 
a  sense  occupation  taxes.  They  are  all  charges  for  the  privilege 
of  doing  an  unusual  kind  of  business.  They  cannot  be  levied 
in  any  case  except  where  the  Legislature'  by  a  general  law 
authorizes  them  to  be  levied. 

365.  Saloon  Licenses. — ^A  majority  of  the  qualified 
voters  of  each  city  having  twenty-five  hundred  inhabitants 
or  more,  at  an  election  held  for  that  purpose,  can  altogether 
prohibit  the  sale  of  intoxicating  Liquors  within  the  city ;  and 
a  majority  of  the  qualified  voters  in  the  county  residing  out- 
side of  any  such  city  can  in  the  same  way  prohibit  the  sale 
of  intoxicating  liquors  in  the  rest  of  the  county.  This  may 
be  done  under  what  is  known  as  the  Local  Option  Law,  which 
has  been  a  law  of  this  State  since  1887.  It  gives  the  people 
of  each  community  the  right  to  decide  whether  or  not  they 
will  permit  saloons  to  exist  in  their  midst.  If  the  law  has 
once  been  adopted  it  remains  in  force  until  the  question  is 
again  submitted  to  the  voters,  but  when  it  has  once  been 
legally  submitted,  whether  adopted  or  not,  it  cannot  again 
be  submitted  for  four  years. 

But  if  the  people  do  not  adopt  the  Local  Option  Law, 
the  county  court  may  grant  to  the  owner  of  a  saloon  a  license 
to  keep  a  dramshop  by  charging  him  a  county  license  tax  of 
not  less  than  S2o0  nor  more  than  $400  for  each  period  of  six 
months,  and  in  addition  a  state  license  tax  of  $200  for  the 
same  period.  Of  course,  the  Legislature  can  at  any  time  in- 
crease or  decrease  either  the  county  or  state  tax,  or  both, 
and  fix  either  at  an  invariable  sum. 

In  addition  to  the  state  and  county  tax,  the  mayor  and 
council  of  each  city  can  also  fix  a  city  license  saloon  tcix  at 


408  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

whatever  sum  they  may  wish.  They  can  make  it  as  high  as 
they  wish,  or  as  little  as  they  please,  and  if  they  prefer  they 
can  refuse  to  assess  any  license  tax  whatever  against  saloons. 
But  as  a  matter  of  fact,  in  the  largest  cities  the  license  tax  is 
usually  $500  for  each  period  of  six  months,  and  in  the  few 
cities  of  the  third  and  fourth  class  that  now  have  saloons 
the  license  tax  varies  from  $1,000  to  $4,000  a  year.  But 
the  city  can  license  no  one  to  keep  a  dramshop  until  he  has 
first  obtained  a  license  from  the  county  court,  and  the  court 
can  grant  no  license  unless  the  applicant  pays  the  state  and 
county  license. 

366.  License,  How  Obtained. — The  county  court  can 
not  grant  a  saloon  license  in  a  town  having  two  thousand  in- 
habitants or  more  until  the  license  is  petitioned  for  by  a  ma- 
jority of  the  tax-paying  citizens  of  the  block  in  which  the 
dramshop  is  to  be  kept;  and  a  license  to  keep  a  dramshop  in 
a  town  having  less  than  two  thousand  inhabitants  cannot  be 
granted  until  a  majority  of  the  tax-paying  citizens  of  the 
block  in  which  the  saloon  is  to  be  kept,  and  also  a  majority 
of  those  of  the  town,  sign  a  petition  asking  that  such  license 
be  granted.  And  the  words  "tax-paying  citizen"  do  not  mean 
voters,  but  mean  all  adult  persons  owning  property  assessed 
for  purposes  of  taxation,  whether  they  be  men  or  women.  The 
petition  must  be  renewed  each  year.  Nor  is  the  court  even 
then  compelled  to  grant  the  license.  It  is  not  compelled  to 
do  so  until  two-thirds  of  the  tax-paying  citizens  in  the  block, 
or  in  the  block  and  town,  as  the  case  may  be,  sign  the  peti- 
tion, and  even  then  the  court  must  refuse  the  license  if  the 
applicant  is  not  a  law-abiding  citizen.  The  license  cannot  be 
issued  in  any  case  unless  at  least  a  majority  of  the  tax-paying 
citizens  sign  the  petition,  and  the  applicant  is  shown  to  be  a 
law-abiding  citizen,  and  even  then  the  court  may  withhold 
the  license  unless  the  petition  is  signed  by  at  least  two-thirds 
of  the  tax-paying  citizens. 


TAXATION.  409 

367.  Saloon  Tax,  How  Used. — Two-thirds  of  the  money 
derived  from  county  saloon  license  taxes  must  be  used  in 
improving  the  public  roads  and  bridges  of  the  county,  and 
the  other  third  goes  into  the  general  revenue  fund  of  the  coun- 
ty, and  may  be  used  as  other  general  revenue.  The  saloon 
license  tax  collected  by  the  city  may  be  used  in  paying  any 
current  expenses  of  the  city,  unless  the  city  and  the  sur- 
rounding country  not  exceeding  eight  miles  square  have  been 
organized  into  a  special  road  district.  In  that  case,  one- 
fourth  of  the  dramshop-license  tax  collected  by  the  city  is 
used  in  improving  the  public  roads  lying  outside  the  city 
limits,  and  is  turned  over  to  the  road  commissioners  to  be 
used  in  that  way. 

368.  Revoking  License. — The  license  though  once 
granted  may  be  revoked  for  selling  or  giving  away  intoxi- 
cating liquors  to  an  habitual  drunkard,  or  for  selling  or  giving 
them  away  on  Sunday  or  on  a  general  election  day,  or  for 
keeping  a  disorderly  house.  And  for  selling  or  giving  such 
liquors  to  minors  without  a  written  permission  of  the  parent, 
the  parent  may  recover  $50  from  the  saloonkeeper  or  his 
bondsmen  by  suit,  and  in  addition  he  may  tje  fined  as  much 
as  $200 ;  and  for  selling  or  giving  away  on  Sunday  or  a  gen- 
eral election  day  he  may  be  fined  a  like  sum ;  and  if  he  sells  or 
gives  intoxicating  liquors  to  an  habitual  drunkard  after 
having  been  notified  in  writing  by  the  wife,  mother,  sister, 
brother  or  child  not  to  do  so,  such  wife  or  mother  may  re- 
cover not  less  than  fifty  nor  more  than  five  hundred  dollars 
in  a  civil  suit.  And  every  county  court  is  forbidden  to  issue 
a  license  to  a  saloon-keeper  whose  license  has  once  been  re- 
voked or  who  has  been  convicted  of  a  crime. 

369.  Excise  Conunissioner. — In  the  city  of  St.  Louis 
there  is  an  officer  appointed  by  the  Governor  who  is  empow- 
ered to  grant  saloon  licenses,  just  as  county  courts  are  in 
other  counties,  and  for  a  license  there  a  dramshop-keeper 
must  pay  both  a  city,  county  and  state  license  tax  just  as 


410  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 


1 


dramshop-keepers  in  other  counties  and  cities  do.  Such  an 
officer  is  necessary  there  because  there  is  no  county  court  in 
St.  Louis,  and  the  law  provides  that  he  shall  be  appointed  by 
the  Governor,  rather  than  elected  by  the  people,  in  order,  as 
far  as  possible,  to  relieve  him  from  the  political  influence  of 
the  saloons. 

370.  Poll  Taxes. — A  poll  tax  is  a  very  old  form  of 
taxation,  and  one  that  all  governments  resort  to  at  times  in 
order  to  create  or  replenish  a  much-needed  fund.  It  is  a  per 
capita  tax ;  that  is,  a  tax  levied  on  each  person  on  the  poll  or 
list  of  persons  of  a  certain  age. 

In  this  State  a  poll  tax  is  a  tax  of  from  one  to  six  dollars 
that  may  be  levied  on  every  able-bodied  male  citizen  in  the 
State  between  certain  ages,  usually  between  twenty-one  and 
fifty  years.  In  cities  it  goes  into  the  city  treasury,  and  is 
used  in  keeping  the  streets  in  repair.  If  the  citizen  does  not 
live  in  a  city,  he  is  permitted  to  pay  the  tax  either  in  money 
or  by  working  on  the  roads.  It  cannot  be  collected  for  both 
county  and  city  purposes;  if  the  city  is  authorized  to  levy  it, 
the  county  is  not.  The  county  court  is  required  to  levy  it  on 
all  able-bodied  male  citizens  of  a  specified  age  who  reside  out- 
side certain  cities,  but  on  no  other  persons;  and  inside  those 
cities  the  mayor  and  council  may  levy  it,  and  in  some  cities, 
especially  in  those  organized  as  special  road  districts,  are  re- 
quired to  levy  it. 

370a.  Inheritance  Taxes. — One's  ownership  of  property 
ceases  with  his  death.  He  has  only  such  right  to  say  to  whom 
it  shall  go  after  his  death  as  the  law  confers  upon  him.  The* 
right  to  inherit  property  from  a  parent  or  other  kinsman  is  not 
a  natural  right;  it  exists  because  the  law  creates  it.  Upon 
the  death  of  the  owner  the  State  has  the  right  to  step  in  and 
say  to  whom  his  property  shall  go.  It  can  take  a  part  of  it 
itself,  and  say  to  whom  the  balance  shall  go.  The  part  it 
takes  is  usually  denominated  an  inheritance  tax;  if  it  takes  only 
a  part  of  the  portion  that  would  otherwise  go  to  distant  or 


TAXATION.  411 

collateral  kindred,  such  as  cousins,  it  is  called  a  collateral 
inheritance  tcux.  But  in  reality  it  is  not  a  tax  at  all.  If  it 
were  a  tax  it  would  be  invalid,  because  not  the  same  or  uniform 
against  all  persons.  It  is  usually  defined  as  a  charge  upon  the 
privilege  of  inheriting  property  from  an  ancestor  or  kinsman 
who  has  died.  It  is  in  reality  the  part  of  the  property  of  one 
who  has  died  which  the  government  appropriates  to  itself  upon 
his  death.  The  government  takes  a  certain  per  cent  of  what 
he  left,  and  says  by  its  laws  to  whom  the  rest  shall  go.  But 
by  what  is  left  is  meant  what  remains  after  the  debts  are  paid, 
and  the  statutory  allowances  to  the  widow  for  the  support  of 
her  family  are  taken  out,  such  as  provisions  for  one  year, 
household  furniture,  and  about  four  hundred  dollars'  worth  of 
other  things.  The  debts  and  these  allowances  being  deducted, 
the  widow  or  husband  and  each  child  of  the  deceased  owner  is 
permitted  to  take  a  certain  other  portion  of  the  estate  free  from 
the  tax,  usually  ten  thousand  dollars  for  the  widow  or  husband, 
and  two  thousand  for  each  child;  then  the  balance  up  to  a 
certain  sum,  usually  twenty-thousand  dollars,  is  taxed  one-half 
of  one  per  cent.  The  tax  on  the  next  thirty  thousand  is  two 
per  cent,  and  on  the  fair  market  value  between  fifty  and  one 
hundred  thousand  dollars  is  three  per  cent,  and  increases,  by 
graduated  percentages,  as  the  value  of  the  estate  increases 
above  that  sum.  If  the  deceased  owner  left  no  widow,  husband 
or  descendant,  but  the  estate  goes  to  collateral  kindred,  the 
tax  is  much  larger,  and  increases  the  farther  removed  in  kinship 
the  heirs  are.  The  owner  cannot  defeat  the  tax  by  attempting 
to  give  it  away  prior  to  his  death,  for  it  is  levied  on  all  lands 
conveyed  or  property  transferred  by  him  without  a  fair 
consideration  at  any  time  within  six  years  before  his  death. 
Nor  can  he  defeat  the  tax  by  his  will,  except  that  any  money  or 
property  given  by  him  to  a  college  or  church  or  lodge  or  hos- 
pital, or  other  charitable  or  educational  or  religious  use,  is  not 
subject  to  the  tax.  The  money  derived  from  the  tax  is  paid 
into  the  State  Treasury,  and  heretofore  much  of  it  has.  been 


412  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

used  to  support  the  State  University  and  the  School  of  Mines 
and  Metallurgy. 

Questions  on  Chapter  X. 

1.  What  is  said  of  the  subject  of  taxation?     (351) 

2.  What  are  taxes?     (352) 

3.  What  are  the  people  entitled  to  in  return  for  taxes?     (352) 

4.  Read  the  whole  of  section  352. 

5.  Does  the  government  have  any  way  to  make  money?     (353) 

6.  What  property  is  exempt  from  direct  taxes?     (354) 

7.  Does  this  exemption  apply  to  benefit  assessments?     (354) 

8.  Upon  what  does  amount  of  taxes  one  must  pay  depend?     (355) 

9.  What  further  is  said  about  uniformity  of  taxation?     (355) 

10.  Must  separate  taxes  be  levied  for  separate  subdivisions  of  gov- 

ernment?    (356) 

11.  Where  is  real  estate  taxable?     (357) 

12.  Where  is  personal  property  taxable?     (357) 

13.  As  of  what  date  are  taxes  assessable?     (358) 

14.  What  is  the  rate  now  for  state  purposes?     (359) 

15.  What  is  the  present  state  debt  rate?     (360) 

16.  How  else  are  the  State's  revenues  increased?     (361) 

17.  How  else  may  the  county  increase  its  revenues?     (363) 

18.  How  else  may  the  city  increase  its  revenues?     (363) 

19.  Can  a  school  district  levy  a  license  tax?     (363) 

20.  What  is  said  of  occupation  taxes?     (364) 

21.  Give  some  examples  of  an  occupation  tax.     (364) 

22.  When  may  such  taxes  be  levied?     (364) 

23.  Can  the  people  of  a  locality  prohibit  altogether  the  sale  of  intoxi- 

cating liquors?     How?     (365) 

24.  Read  the  balance  of  section  365,  and  all  of  sections  366  to  369. 

25.  What  are  poll  taxes?     For  what  are  they  used?     (370) 

26.  Discuss  inheritance  taxes.     (370a) 


LANDS  AND   MISCELLANEOUS  MATTERS.        413 

CHAPTER  XI. 

LANDS  AND  MISCELLANEOUS  MATTERS. 

371.  Congressional  Townships. — Congressional  town- 
ships are  to  be  distinguished  from  municipal  townships. 
The  municipal  township  is  an  irregular  subdivision  of  a 
county  made  by  the  county  court.  A  Congressional  town- 
ship is  a  square  body  of  land  bounded  by  lines  running  east 
and  west  which  are  crossed  by  other  lines  running  north  and 
south  in  such  manner  that  each  side  of  the  square  is  six  miles 
long.  It  is  a  regular  subdivision  of  nearly  all  of  the  lands  of 
the  country  west  of  the  Mississippi  River,  and  in  other  parts 
of  the  United  States,  made  by  Government  surveyors,  for 
the  ready  conveyance  of  land  to  purchasers.  Here  these 
subdivisions  were  made  about  the  time  Missouri  became  a 
State,  in  accordance  with  an  act  of  Congress,  and  hence  their 
names. 

372.  Necessity  of  Understanding  Them. — We  have 
all  heard  of  sections,  townships  and  ranges  in  describing  land 
transfers.  These  terms  are  used  in  finding  or  "locating" 
every  farm  in  almost  every  county,  and  in  laying  out  every 
town  and  city  in  the  State,  and  in  levying  taxes. 

373.  How  Made. — The  Government  surveyors  first 
agreed  upon  "base  lines"  and  "principal  meridians."  There 
are  many  of  these  in  the  United  States,  but  the  base  line  from 
which  Missouri  lands  were  surveyed  runs  east  and  west 
through  Arkansas,  near  the  center  of  that  State,  and  within 
a  few  miles  of  Little  Rock;  and  the  principal  meridian  from 
which  these  surveys  were  made  is  the  Fifth  Principal  Me- 
ridian, which  runs  north  and  south  through  the  eastern  part 
of  the  State,  about  thirty-six  miles  west  of  St.  Louis.  It  is 
fourteen  degrees  of  longitude  west  from  Washington. 


414 


CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 


For  a  better  understanding  of  ranges,  townships  and 
sections  this  diagram  is  subjoined,  showing  certain  lands  in 
Saline  County: 


1 

>^ 

TOWNSHIP 

TOWNSHIP 

51. 

' 

51. 

Range  21. 

Range  20. 

/ 

6 

5 

4 

3 

2 

1 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

TOWNSHIP 
50. 

18 

17 

16 

15 

14 

13 

19 

20 

21' 

"22 

23 

24 

30 

29 

28 

27 

26 

25 

81 

32 

83 

84 

35 

36 

374.  Ranges. — Other  lines  parallel  with  the  Fifth 
Principal  Meridian,  and  just  six  miles  apart,  were  run  by  the 
surveyors,  and  all  the  territory  between  any  two  of  these 
lines  is  called  a  range.  All  the  land  within  six  miles  of  the 
Fifth  Principal  Meridian  is  in  Range  1,  and  that  between  the 
next  two  range  lines  is  in  Range  2,  and  so  on  westward  to  the 
western  border  of  the  State,  and  eastward  to  the  Mississippi 
river.  A  range  then  is  six  miles  wide.  If  your  range  is  21 
west,  that  indicates  that  there  are  twenty  ranges  between 


LANDS  AND  MISCELLANEOUS  MATTERS.        415 

^     yours  and  the  Fifth  Principal  Meridian,  and  that  you  live 
\     west  of  that  meridian. 

375.  Townships. — Other  lines,  six  miles  apart  and 
parallel  with  the  base  line,  are  run  east  and  west  through  the 
State,  so  that  the  whole  State  is  divided  into  a  kind  of  checker 
board,  or  squares  of  six  miles.  Each  of  these  squares  is  a 
Congressional  township.  These  townships  are  numbered 
consecutively  north  from  the  base  line.  If  you  live  in  town- 
ship 49,  that  indicates  that  there  are  forty-eight  townships 
south  of  yours  between  you  and  the  base  line,  and  it  also 
indicates  that  every  township  due  west  or  due  east  of  yours, 
entirely  through  the  State,  is  also  numbered  49. 

376.  Sections. — Each  Congressional  township  is  di- 
vided into  sections.  A  section  is  a  piece  of  land  one  mile 
square.  So  each  township  contains  thirty-six  sections. 
These  are  also  numbered.  The  first  section  in  the  northeast 
comer  of  the  township  is  section  1.  The  one  just  west  of  it 
is  section  2,  and  so  on  to  the  last  section  in  the  northwest 
corner  of  the  township,  which  is  section  6.  The  one  just 
south  of  section  6  is  section  7,  and  the  one  just  east  of  that 
is  section  8,  and  so  on  to  the  last  section  at  the  east  side  of 
the  township,  which  is  section  12.  Right  south  of  section  12 
is  section  13,  and  then  the  count  is  back  to  the  west  again, 
and  then  back  to  the  east,  and  so  on  in  this  looping  order 
until  section  36  is  found  in  the  southeast  corner  of  the  town- 
ship. The  corner  of  each  section  was  originally  marked  by  a 
long  stone  set  into  the  ground,  and  township  corners  by  yet 
larger  stones. 

377.  Subdivisions  of  Sections. — Each  section  is  di- 
vided into  four  parts,  called  "quarter  sections."  They  are 
the  northeast  quarter,  the  northwest  quarter,  the  southeast 
quarter  and  the  southwest  quarter.  Each  contains  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres.  And  each  quarter  section  is  again 
divided  into  four  equal  squares,  so  that  forty  acres  in  the 


416  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

southeast  corner  of  the  section  is  described  as  the  southeast 
quarter  of  the  southeast  quarter. 

378.  How  Used. — This  system  of  describing  land  is 
used  in  conveyancing,  or  in  making  deeds,  and  in  levying 
taxes.  In  a  deed  to  a  farm  the  land  is  rarely  described  in 
any  other  way,  but  the  building  or  lot  in  a  town  or  city  is 
described  in  deeds  by  the  number  of  the  lot,  the  number  of 
the  block,  and  the  name  of  the  addition  wherein  it  is  located. 
But  these  numbers  have  been  made  to  conform  to  a  plat  of 
the  town  or  city,  recorded  with  the  recorder  of  deeds,  which 
plat  was  arranged  from  the  numbers  of  the  section,  township 
and  range.  So  that  this  United  States  Surveyor's  system  is 
the  basis  for  describing  real  estate  in  most  deeds  and  in  levying 
taxes.  ^ 

379.  Deeds. — A  deed  is  a  written  contract  by  which 
land  is  conveyed  from  one  person  to  another  within  the  life- 
time of  both.  The  person  who  makes  the  deed  is  called  the 
grantor,  and  the  person  to  whom  the  land  is  conveyed,  the 
grantee.  If  the  grantor  covenants  that  the  grantee  is  to 
have  an  indisputable  title,  the  deed  is  a  warranty  deed ;  if  he 
simply  conveys  all  the  title  he  owns  it  is  a  quit-claim.  Deeds 
are  the  instruments  by  which  people  convey  land  while  they  are 
living.  But  in  order  to  convey  the  land  the  deed  must  be  de- 
livered, but  when  signed  and  delivered  it  conveys  at  once  the 
title  it  purports  to  convey. 

380.  Acknowledgment  and  Record. — A  deed  signed 
by  the  owner  of  land  and  delivered  conveys  to  the  grantee  all 
his  interest  in  the  land;  but  in  order  to  be  recorded  it  must  be 
acknowledged.  That  means  that  the  grantor  goes  before  a 
notary  public  or  a  justice  of  the  peace  or  some  other  public 
officer  and  acknowledges  that  his  signature  to  the  deed  was 
his  "free  act  and  deed,"  and  then  that  officer  attaches  his  cer- 
tificate to  the  deed,  showing  that  it  has  been  so  acknowledged. 
Then  the  deed  can  be  recorded  by  the  county  recorder,  and 


LANDS  AND  MISCELLANEOUS  MATTERS.        417 

from  that  time  on  the  record  is  notice  to  all  the  world  that 
the  land  has  been  conveyed  to  the  person  named  as  grantee. 

But  suppose  the  grantee  does  not  have  his  deed  recorded, 
and  the  grantor  after  he  has  made  him  a  deed  makes  one  to 
another  person  and  that  person  without  any  knowledge  of 
the  prior  deed  puts  his  deed  of  record,  that  other  person  then 
has  a  prior  right  to  the  land.  So,  the  necessity  of  recording 
a  deed  as  soon  as  it  is  made.  The  purpose  of  recording  a  deed 
naming  you  as  grantee  is  to  give  other  persons  notice  that  you 
are  the  owner.  After  the  deed  is  recorded,  if  any  person  buys 
the  land  from  the  same  grantor  he  is  chargeable  with  notice 
that  it  had  been  previously  conveyed  to  you. 

But  a  deed  cannot  be  recorded  unless  it  is  first  acknowl- 
edged ;  so,  the  necessity  of  a  good  acknowledgment. 

381.  Transfer  by  Will. — Lands  can  also  be  devised  by 
wills.  The  owner  may  make  a  will,  and  retain  the  land  dur- 
ing his  life,  and  after  his  death  his  will  goes  into  effect,  and 
the  person  to  whom  he  has  given  the  land  becomes  the  owner. 
This  is  a  marked  distinction  between  deeds  and  wills;  a  deed 
must  take  effect  within  the  lifetime  of  the  grantor,  if  at  all,  and 
can  take  effect  only  on  delivery  to  the  grantee  or  to  some 
person  for  him,  but  when  delivered  it  becomes  a  complete 
contract,  and  cannot  be  revoked  by  the  maker;  a  will  never 
takes  effect  until  the  death  of  the  maker,  and  does  not  have 
to  be  delivered  to  the  devisee  during  the  life  of  the  maker 
and  can  be  revoked  byhim  at  any  time  during  his  life. 

382.  Partition  of  Lands. — If  the  owner  of  land  dies 
without  a  will,  the  land  (if  he  has  no  debts)  goes  to  his  heirs, 
and  the  law  declares  who  are  the  heirs  and  just  what  portion 
each  is  to  have.  They  can  agree  upon  a  division  among 
themselves,  and  make  deeds  to  each  other.  But  if  they  can- 
not agree,  any  heir  can  go  into  court,  and  ask  the  court  to 
make  the  division  for  them.  The  court  will  appoint  com- 
missioners to  divide  or  partition  the  land  among  them,  ac- 

27 


418  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

cording  to  their  legal  rights,  if  that  can  be  done,  but  if  that 
cannot  be  done,  the  court,  will  order  the  land  to  be  sold,  and 
then  will  divide  the  money  among  the  heirs.  That  is  called 
a  partition  suit  or  a  proceeding  in  partition. 

Usually  the  maker  of  a  will  divides  up  his  land  among 
his  devisees  by  the  will  itself  by  giving  to  each  a  certain  tract 
or  a  certain  lot.  But  if  he  does  not  do  that,  but  gives  his 
lands  to  two  or  more  devisees,  without  mentioning  which 
portion  each  is  to  take,  they  can  divide  them  among  them- 
selves, or  resort  to  a  partition  suit  for  the  purpose. 

383.  Title. — Title  is  the  foundation  of  one's  ownership 
of  real  estate;  it  is  the  written  instruments  whereby  his  right 
to  the  land  is  established.  It  consists  of  a  patent  from  the 
United  States,  and  all  deeds  and  wills  concerning  the  land 
from  the  date  the  patent  was  issued  up  to  the  present  time. 
To  be  a  perfect  title  each  deed  in  the  series  must  be  a  perfect, 
instrument  and  the  "maker  thereof  must  have  been  the  actual 
owner.  Such  a  chain  of  title  of  perfect  deeds  is  rare.  But 
the  Legislature  has  provided  against  any  injury  that  might 
result  to  the  actual  owner  because  of  these  imperfections,  in 
the  Statute  of  Limitations.  By  that  statute  any  person 
who  has  been  in  actual,  adverse  and  exclusive  possession  of 
property  for  ten  years  claiming  to  be  the  owner,  is  the  owner, 
and  cannot  be  dispossessed  unless  the  person  out  of  posses- 
sion and  claiming  to  be  the  owner  and  to  have  a  title  is  a 
minor  or  a  married  woman  or  a  remainderman,  in  which  case 
the  possession  of  the  actual  occupant  must  be  for  a  longer 
term  of  years.  This  is  one  of  the  most  beneficent  statutes 
ever  written.  If  it  were  repealed  the  greatest  confusion 
would  result,  and  no  householder  would  be  secure  in  his 
home. 

384.  Remainders. — Both  by  deed  and  by  will  all  the 
owner's  right  and  title  to  land  may  be  conveyed  to  one  per- 
son, or  it  may  be  conveyed  to  one  for  life  and  to  another 
thereafter.     The  person  who  takes  the  estate  for  his  life  is 


LANDS  AND  MISCELLANEOUS  MATTERS.        419 

called  the  life  tenant,  and  the  person  who  next  takes  is  called 
the  remainderman  and  the  estate  he  takes  is  called  the  re- 
mainder. The  life  tenant  does  not  take  the  title;  he  only- 
takes  a  lifetime  use.  The  remainderman  takes  the  title,  but 
his  right  to  the  use  and  possession  is  postponed  until  the  death 
of  the  life  tenant.  In  this  way  the  owner  of  land  may  keep 
it  in  his  family  for  many  years  after  his  death.  Thus,  if 
he  gave  to  his  daughter  a  certain  house  and  lot  to  be  held 
and  enjoyed  by  her  during  her  natural  life  and  after  her 
death  by  the  heirs  of  her  body  then  living,  she  could  hold 
and  use  it  so  long  as  she  lived,  or  she  could  sell  her  right  to 
its  use  during  her  life,  but  she  could  sell  no  more,  and  at  her 
death  her  descendants  then  living  would  at  once  become  the 
owners  and  entitled  to  the  possession,  but  they  would  at  no 
time  while  she  lived  be  entitled  to  the  possession,  nor  would 
they  be  barred  from  asserting  their  right  to  possession  on 
her  death  by  the  statute  of  limitations,  although  she  may 
have  been  in  possession  for  thirty  or  forty  years,  for  until  her 
death  the  possession  of  no  one  can  be  adverse  to  them.  In 
this  way  the  owner  of  land  may  keep  it  in  his  family  at  least 
during  the  life  of  his  own  children. 

385.  Homestead. — The  law  believes  society  is  strong- 
er if  every  family  has  a  home.  In  this  State  the  dwelling  house 
of  the  head  of  a  family  cannot  be  taken  for  his  debts,  and  his 
widow  and  minor  children  are  entitled  to  live  in  the  residence 
owned  by  him  at  his  death — the  widow  during  her  life  or 
widowhood,  and  the  children  while  they  are  minors.  But 
there  can  be  no  homestead  as  against  the  debts  made  prior 
to  the  time  the  husband  acquired  and  occupied  his  residence, 
nor  can  the  homestead  in  the  country  exceed  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  of  land  nor  $1,500  in  value,  but  so  much  of 
the  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  can  be  retained  by  the  hus- 
band during  his  life,  and  by  the  widow  and  children  after  his 
death,  as  is  worth  no  more  than  $1,500.  In  cities  and  towns 
the  maximum  value  and  size  of  the  homestead  depend  on 


420  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

their  population.  In  towns  having  less  than  10,000  inhab- 
itants the  maximum  value  is  SI, 500,  and  the  maximum  size 
not  more  than  five  acres.  In  larger  cities  this  value  is  larger 
and  the  amount  of  ground  less. 

385a.  Exemptions  relate  to  personal  property,  as 
homesteads  relate  to  lands.  A  certain  amount  of  personal 
property  cannot  be  sold  for  ordinary  debts,  and  that  prop- 
erty is  usually  designated  as  exemptions.  Two  work 
animals,  ten  hogs,  ten  sheep,  two  cows  and  calves,  twenty- 
five  dollars'  worth  of  stock  feed,  and  the  necessary  farming 
implements,  or  in  lieu  of  those  things  three  hundred  dollars* 
worth  of  any  other  property,  except  ten  per  cent  thereof, 
and  four  beds  with  usual  bedding,  all  wearing  apparel  of 
the  family,  and  any  other  family  furniture  not  exceeding 
one  hundred  dollars  in  value,  and  one  hundred  dollars*  worth 
of  provisions  on  hand,  cannot  be  sold  for  the  debts  of  the 
head  of  a  family ;  and  by  head  of  a  family  is  meant  any  person 
charged  with  the  support  of  a  family,  whether  man  or  woman. 
A  widow  having  minor  children  or  aged  parents  to  support 
is  the  head  of  a  family,  if  she  controls  and  keeps  a  house  in 
which  she  and  they  reside.  So  would  be  an  unmarried  man 
who  supports  and  keeps  with  himself  in  a  house  his  mother 
and  sisters,  and  a  married  man  with  a  wife  alone  may  be  the 
head  of  a  family.  But  no  property  is  exempt  from  sale  to 
pay  taxes,  nor  to.  pay  for  the  services  of  a  house  servant  or 
common  laborer,  to  the  amount  of  ninety  dollars,  nor  is 
any  personal  property  in  the  hands  of  the  purchaser  exempt 
from  seizure  for  the  purchase  price  thereof.  All  the  prop- 
erty of  one  not  the  head  of  a  family,  except  his  wearing 
apparel  and  the  necessary  tools  and  implements  of  trade 
of  any  mechanic,  may  be  sold  to  pay  his  debts. 

386.  Dower. — In  addition  to  her  homestead  in  her 
husband's  residence,  the  widow  is  entitled  to  a  dower  of  one- 
third  of  all  the  other  land  he  owned  at  any  time  during  their 
marriage,  not  by  her  deeded  away  while  he  lived,  and  she  is 


LANDS  AND   MISCELLANEOUS  MATTERS.        421 

entitled  to  a  child's  share  in  his  personal  estate.  If  he  made 
a  deed  to  a  piece  of  property  in  which  she  did  not  join,  her 
dower  remains  and  may  be  recovered  by  her  after  his  death. 
But  a  dower  only  lasts  for  life.  It  is  extinguished  by  her 
death.  But  instead  of  this  lifetime  interest  of  one-third  of 
her  husband's  real  estate  the  widow  may  take,  if  she  desires, 
a  child's  share.  If  there  is  only  one  child,  her  share  then  will 
be  one-half  of  the  husband's  real  estate  after  his  debts  are 
paid.  If  he  dies  without  children  or  other  descendants,  her 
dower  is  one-half  of  all  the  property  he  owned  after  the  debts 
are  paid,  not  for  life  only,  but  absolutely. 

387.  Curtesy. — The  husband's  curtesy  is  something 
like  the  widow's  dower.  It  is  a  lifetime  use  of  the  lands 
owned  by  the  wife  at  her  death.  But  in  order  that  he  may 
have  this  interest  he  must  have  had  the  possession  and  use 
of  the  property  during  the  marriage,  and  a  child  must  have 
been  born  alive  of  the  marriage.  If  the  child  survives  her  he 
has  only  a  lifetime  use  of  the  wife's  lands.  But  if  she  die 
leaving  no  children  or  other  descendants,  he  is  entitled  to  one- 
half  of  all  her  property  absolutely,  and,  if  a  child  was  born 
of  the  marriage  and  has  died,  to  the  use  of  the  remaining  half 
of  her  real  estate  of  which  he  had  the  possession  during  the 
marriage. 

388.  Wills  and  Heirs. — Every  person  may  make  a 
will  for  the  disposal  of  his  property  after  his  death,  and  he 
may  give  his  property  to  whom  he  pleases,  except  that  the 
husband  cannot  deprive  the  wife  of  her  dower  or  homestead 
interest,  nor  can  the  wife  deprive  her  husband  of  his  curtesy. 
But  a  father  by  will  may  disinherit  one  or  all  of  his  children, 
and  so  may  the  mother. 

But  if  the  father  die  leaving  no  will  his  property  goes  as 
the  law  directs;  that  is,  after  the  payment  of  his  debts,  his 
wife  gets  her  share  (dower  and  homestead  and  one  year's 
provisions  for  the  support  of  the  family,  the  family  furniture 
and  about  $400  worth  of  other  things  and  a  child's  share  in 


422  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

the  rest  of  the  personalty),  and  the  balance  goes  to  his  chil- 
dren in  equal  shares,  and  if  a  child  has  died  leaving  children 
they  get  a  child's  share. 

If  a  husband  die  leaving  no  will,  and  no  children  or  other 
descendants  surviving  him,  his  wife  gets  one-half  his  prop- 
erty, and  the  balance  goes  to  his  next  of  kin,  that  is,  to  his 
father  and  mother,  brothers  and  sisters,  or  their  descendants, 
in  equal  porportions;  but  if  he  have  no  such  kindred,  then 
all  his  property  goes  to  his  wife. 

If  the  wife  die  leaving  no  will  her  property  goes  to  her 
husband  and  children  or  other  near  relatives  in  almost  the 
same  way  as  does  the  husband's  property  in  case  of  his  death; 
that  is,  after  the  payment  of  her  debts,  the  husband  gets  his 
curtesy,  and  the  balance  goes  to  her  children  in  equal  pro- 
portions. If  she  leaves  no  children  or  other  descendants,  her 
surviving  husband  gets  one-half  of  all  her  property  absolute- 
ly, and  if  a  child  has  been  born  of  the  marriage  and  died,  a 
lifetime  use  of  the  other  half  of  her  real  estate,  but  the  other 
half  of  her  personal  property  and  the  title  to  the  other  half 
of  the  real  estate  and  its  use  after  his  death,  go  in  equal  pro- 
portions to  her  father,  mother,  brothers  and  sisters,  or  their 
descendants,  if  any  there  be,  but  if  there  are  none,  then  all 
her  property  goes  to  her  surviving  husband. 

If  the  nearest  relative  the  husband  has  is  a  first  cousin, 
and  he  leaves  no  will,  the  wife  gets  all  his  property.  Like- 
wise, if  the  nearest  relative  surviving  the  wife  is  a  first  cousin, 
and  she  leaves  no  will,  the  husband  takes  her  entire  estate. 

388a.  Married  Women. — ^A  married  woman  has  the 
same  right  to  contract  as  does  her  husband.  She  can  sue  and 
be  sued.  She  can  own  and  sell  property,  and  dispose  of  it 
without  her  husband's  consent.  He  cannot  appropriate  her 
money  or  the  rents  from  her  real  estate  or  her  other  personal 
property  without  her  written  consent.  The  law  puts  upon 
him  the  obligation  to  support  her  and  his  minor  children, 
and  for  deserting  her  or  his  childen  under  fifteen  years  of  age 


LANDS  AND  MISCELLANEOUS  MATTERS.        423 

and  failing  to  provide  for  them  without  good  cause  he  may  be 
punished.  Whether  he  deserts  her  or  not,  if  he  fails  to  provide 
for  her  support  she  may  buy,  on  his  account  and  without  his 
consent,  at  stores  and  elsewhere,  things  necessary  to  live 
upon,  and  he  may  be  made  to  pay  for  them  if  he  has  sufficient 
property  or  income.  But  the  wife  is  under  no  obligation  to 
support  the  husband,  and  cannot  be  punished  for  deserting 
him.  But  she  is  required  to  follow  his  fortunes,  make  her 
home  where  he  does  his,  and  if  she  deserts  him  he  is  under  no 
further  obligation  to  support  her  and  cannot  be  punished 
for  failing  to  do  so  while  she  remains  away. 

388b.  Marriage. — Previous  to  a  marriage  in  this  State 
a  license  authorizing  a  minister  or  civil  officer  to  solemnize 
the  ceremony  must  be  obtained  from  the  county  recorder, 
and  he  cannot  issue  a  license  until  he  is  satisfied  that  the  man 
is  twenty-one  and  the  woman  eighteen  years  of  age,  or  if 
either  is  not  of  that  age  until  he  has  the  consent  of  his  or  her 
father,  or  of  the  mother  or  guardian  if  the  father  is  dead 
or  does  not  reside  with  his  family;  and  even  after  the  license 
is  issued,  there  can  be  no  legal  marriage  without  the  consent 
of  both  the  man  and  woman.  There  can  be  no  legal  marriage 
between  first  cousins  or  persons  more  closely  related,  or  be- 
tween white  persons  and  negroes,  or  between  white  persons 
and  Mongolians  (such  as  Chinese  and  Japanese).  But  in  some 
states  marriages  between  first  cousins  is  legal,  and  when  such 
persons  have  married  in  one  of  those  states  and  later  taken  up 
their  residence  in  this  State  their  marriage  is  legal  here.  If  a 
marriage  is  legal  in  the  state  or  nation  where  performed  it  is- 
legal  in  this  State.  But  it  is  usually  not  legal  in  any  other 
state  if  not  legal  here  when  performed  here. 

Questions  on  Chapter  XI. 

1.  What  is  a  municipal  township?     (371) 

2.  A    Congressional   township?     (371) 

3.  WTiat  terms  are  used  in  locating  land?     (372) 

4.  From  what  two  lines  were  lands  in  Missouri  surveyed?     (373) 


424  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

5.  How  were  the  ranges  made?     (374) 

6.  What  is  the  first  six  miles  strip?     The  next?     (374) 

7.  What  other  lines  were  run?     (375) 

8.  What  is  each  square?     (375) 

9.  How  are  they  numbered?     (375) 

10.  How  is  each  township  divided?     (376) 

11.  How  are  they  numbered?     (376) 

12.  How  is  each  section  divided?     (377) 

13.  How  is  this  system  of  describing  land  used?     (378) 

14.  How  is  a  building  in  town  described?     (378) 

15.  What  is  a  deed?     (379) 

16.  What  are  the  parties  to  the  deed  called?     (379) 

17.  When  is  the  deed  a  warranty?     (379) 

18.  When  a  quit-claim?     (379) 

19.  What  is  necessary  in  order  for  the  deed  to  convey  land?     (379) 

20.  What  must  be  done  before  the  deed  can  be  recorded?     (380) 

21.  What  does  that  mean?     (380) 

22.  What  does  the  record  become?     (380) 

23.  What  is  the  purpose  of  recording  a  deed  ?     (380) 

24.  How  else  may  land  be  convej^ed?     (381) 

25.  When  does  a  deed  take  effect  and  when  a  will?     (381) 

26.  How  are  lands  divided  upon  the  death  of  the  owner?     (382) 

27.  What  is  title?     (3S3)     Of  what  does  it  consist?     (383) 

28.  Are  there  many  perfect  chains  of  title?     (383) 

29.  How  has  the  Legislature  provided  against  injury  because  of  im- 

perfections in  the  title?     (383) 

30.  How  does  that  statute  do  that  ?     (383) 

31.  How  may  lands  be  conveyed?     (384) 

32.  Who  is  the  life  tenant  and  who  the  remainderman?     (384) 

33.  What  does  the  life  tenant  take?     (384) 

34.  What  does  the  remainderman  take?     (384) 

35.  Whatadvantagedoesthisgivetheowner  of  land?     (384) 

36.  What  is  said  of  homestead?     (385) 

37.  What  is  the  size  of  the  homestead?     (385) 

38.  Discuss  exemptions.     (385a) 

39.  What  is  meant  by  head  of  a  family?     (385a) 

40.  What  is  dower?     (386) 

41.  What  may  she  have  in  lieu  of  the  lifetime  interest?     (386) 

42.  What  is  her  dower  if  he  had  no  children?     (386) 

43.  What  is  the  husband's  curtesy?     (387) 

44.  What  is  necessary  for  him  to  have  curtesy?     (387) 

45.  What  may  the  owner  of  property  do  by  will?     (388) 


CORPORATIONS.  425 

46.  If  the  father  dies  without  will,  how  does  his  property  go?     (388) 

47.  Where  does  the  husband's  property  go  if  he  die  without  will  or 

descendants?     (388) 

48.  Read  sections  388a  and  388b. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

CORPORATIONS. 

389.  Formation  and  Explanations. — Any  man  or 
woman  over  twenty-one  years  of  age,  whether  married  or  un- 
married, can  make  contracts,  own  property  and  engage  in  any 
kind  of  lawful  business.     That  is  business  by  a  natural  person. 

Two  or  more  of  such  persons  may  associate  themselves 
into  a  partnership,  and  in  the  name  of  that  partnership 
transact  a  certain  kind  of  business  or  many  kinds.  Each  of 
the  partners  puts  in  a  certain  amount  of  the  capital  which  is 
used  for  the  partnership  business,  and  each  is  entitled  to  his 
proportionate  share  of  the  profits,  but  each  is  responsible 
for  all  its  debts,  whether  they  were  made  by  him  or  by  some 
other  partner  who  had  authority  to  make  them,  but  before 
he  can  be  held  individually  responsible  all  the  partnership 
funds  must  be  exhausted  to  pay  the  partnership  debts. 

In  order  to  lessen  their  individual  liability  men  often 
form  a  corporation,  the  members  of  which  are  never  liable 
for  anything  more  than  the  face  value  of  their  stock,  except 
in  cases  of  national  banks,  the  stockholders  of  which  are 
liable  for  twice  the  face  value  of  their  stock.  Besides,  there 
are  some  businesses  too  large  and  extensive  to  be  carried  on 
successfully  by  individuals  or  partnerships.  To  transact  the 
larger  kinds  or  an  unusual  kind  of  business  the  law  permits 
corporations  to  be  formed. 

A  corporation  is  always  a  company.  But  corporations 
are  not  the  only  kind  of  companies.  A  partnership  some- 
times takes  the  name  of  a  company,  although  it  is  usually 


426  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

properly  spoken  of  as  a  firm;  and  an  individual  can  do  busi- 
ness in  any  name  he  may  choose  to  adopt.  Thus,  the  New- 
York  Clothing  Company  may  be  owned  by  one  man,  named, 
for  instance,  John  Smith.  But  that  is  not  a  company  at  all, 
but  simply  a  name  in  which  John  Smith  wishes  to  do  business 
as  a  clothing  merchant.  He  cannot  lessen  his  liabilities  by 
doing  business  in  that  name,  for  he  is  liable  for  all  the  debts 
that  the  New  York  Clothing  Company  may  make.  He  may 
wish  to  keep  his  clothing  business  separate  from  some  other 
business  he  wishes  to  carry  on,  and  may  think  he  can  do  a 
better  clothing  business  by  assuming  that  high-sounding 
name,  and  the  law  permits  him  to  do  that.  So  also  may  the 
New  York  Clothing  Company  be  owned  by  a  partnership 
composed  of  Smith,  Jones  and  Brown,  with  a  capital  stock  of 
$100,000  or  any  other  sum.  In  that  case  each  of  those  three 
would  have  an  interest  in  the  concern,  and  each  would  be 
responsible  for  all  its  debts.  And  the  partnership  could 
engage  not  only  in  the  clothing  business,  but  in  almost  every 
other  kind  of  business  the  partners  might  wish  to  undertake 
in  its  name.  It  could  own  lands,  deal  in  cement  or  railroad 
ties,  or  engage  in  manufacturing. 

Now,  if  those  three  men  wanted  to  incorporate  the  New 
York  Clothing  Company,  either  by  themselves  or  together 
with  any  number  of  other  persons,  they  would  apply  to  the 
Secretary  of  State  for  a  charter,  stating  the  kind  of  business 
they  wished  to  engage  in,  and  the  amount  of  capital  the  com- 
pany had  and  how  much  of  it  was  paid  up,  and  how  much 
was  paid  by  each  one  of  them.  If  there  was  no  other  com- 
pany already  incorporated  by  that  name,  the  Secretary  of 
State  would  issue  a  charter  defining  the  kind  of  business  it 
could  engage  in,  and  thereafter  it  could  engage  in  that  busi- 
ness, but  it  could  engage  in  no  other,  nor  could  it  do  business 
in  any  other  name.  The  company  would  then  issue  certifi- 
cates of  stock  to  each  person  named  in  the  charter  for  the 
amount  of  capital  he  had  paid  in,  and  the  holders  of  that 


CORPORATIONS.  427 

stock  would  be  the  stockholders  of  the  company.  The  stock- 
holders would  elect  certain  of  their  number  to  be  directors, 
who  are  charged  with  the  management  of  the  company's 
business.  The  directors  would  elect  one  of  their  number  presi- 
dent, another  secretary,  and  another  treasurer,  and  they  would 
fix  the  salaries  of  those  officers,  and  at  the  end  of  each  year  or 
oftener  they  would  determine  what  rate  of  dividend  should 
be  paid  to  the  stockholders. 

390.  Stockholders  and  Directors. — Every  corporation 
must  have  at  least  three  directors,  and  may  have  as 
many  stockholders  as  there  are  shares  of  stock.  The  inter- 
est of  each  stockholder  depends  on  the  number  of  shares  of 
stock  he  owns,  and  when  directors  are  elected  he  has  as  many 
votes  as  he  has  shares  multiplied  by  the  number  of  directors 
to  be  elected,  and  "he  can  cast  all  his  votes  for  one  man  or 
scatter  them.  Thus,  suppose  he  has  five  shares  of  stock  and 
there  are  five  directors  to  be  elected ;  he  can  cast  five  votes 
for  each  of  five  stockholders  he  wishes  to  have  elected  direc- 
tors, or  he  can  cast  twenty-five  votes  for  one  and  none  for  the 
others.  A  stockholder  can  draw  nothing  out  of  the  com- 
pany's treasury  except  dividends,  which  means  the  net  earn- 
ings of  the  business.  He  is  not  liable  for  the  company's 
debts,  and  if  it  fails  he  will  lose  only  what  he  paid  for  his 
stock,  unless  the  charter  falsely  stated  at  the  time  the  com- 
pany Wcis  incorporated  that  a  greater  per  cent  of  the  stock 
has  been  paid  up  than  was  actually  paid  up,  in  which  case  the 
stockholders  would  be  liable  to  the  creditors  of  the  company 
for  what  the  charter  stated  had  been  paid  up  when  the  com- 
pany was  incorporated,  less  the  amount  actually  paid.  He 
can  sell  his  stock,  and  the  purchaser  will  have  the  same  rights 
as  a  stockholder  that  he  had.  He  may  die,  but  the  company 
would  go  on.  His  stock  might  be  sold  for  his  debts,  and  that 
being  simply  a  piece  of  paper  (or  certificate  reciting  the  num- 
ber of  shares  he  owns)  is  easily  transferred,  and  hence  the 
company's  existence  would  not  be  affected   by  his  death, 


428  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

whereas  if.it  was  a  partnership  its  affairs  would  have  to  be 
wound  up,  its  debts  paid,  and  his  share  in  what  was  left 
turned  over  to  his  administrators. 

391.  Definition  and  Powers. — A  corporation,  then,  is 
defined  as  an  artificial  person.  It  is  a  company  which  the 
law  permits  to  be  created  for  the  transaction  of  a  certain 
kind  of  business.  It  derives^ all  its  powers  from  the  State, 
and  can  engage  in  no  business  except  that  mentioned  in  its 
charter  or  the  laws,  and  its  name  must  indicate  the  kind  of 
business  it  wishes  to  carry  on.  It  must  have  at  least  three 
directors  and  may  have  thirteen,  and  three  of  them  must  be 
residents  of  this  State. 

392.  Dixration. — If  the  corporation  is  a  railroad  com- 
pany it  may  exist  until  its  stockholders  wish  to  surrender 
their  charter,  but  nearly  all  other  business  corporations  are 
given  the  right  to  exist  for  twenty  or  fifty  years,  but  at  the 
end  of  that  time  their  charters  may  be  renewed  for  another 
like  period,  and  so  on  indefinitely,  unless  the  law  has  in  the 
meantime  been  changed. 

393.  Ownership  of  Real  Estate. — ^A  corporation  can 
own  such  real  estate  as  is  necessary  for  the  carrying  on  of 
the  particular  business  in  which  it  is  engaged,  such  as  its 
store  or  banking  house,  but  it  can  own  no  other  real  estate 
except  such  as  it  takes  in  payment  of  debts  due  it,  and  even 
that  it  can  not  retain  longer  than  six  years. 

These  are  the  general  rules  governing  business  corpora- 
tions. 

394.  Foreign  Corporations. — Nearly  every  corpora- 
tion is  organized  under  the  laws  of  some  state,  and  those 
chartered  by  some  other  state  or  by  some  foreign  country 
are  called  foreign  corporations.  They  have  no  right  to  do 
business  within  this  State  except  upon  such  terms  as  the 
State  may  prescribe.  Those  terms  are  usually  the  same  as 
those  prescribed  for  home  corporations.     If  they  wish  to  come 


CORPORATIONS.  429 

to  this  State  to  do  extensive  business  they  must  secure  a 
license  from  this  State,  and  have  an  office  or  place  of  business 
here,  and  pay  the  same  fees  for  that  license  as  a  home  company 
with  a  like  capital.  If  they  simply  buy  or  sell  goods  or  other 
commodities  in  their  own  state  from  or  to  citizens  of  this 
State,  they  are  not  required  to  have  a  license  from  this  State, 
but  under  what  is  called  "comity  between  states"  are  pro- 
tected in  the  legal  transaction  of  their  business. 

395.  Educational     and      Religious      Corporations. — 

But  there  are  other  corporations,  such  as  colleges  or  univer- 
sities, which  have  charters  just  as  do  business  corporations, 
and  their  affairs  are  managed  by  a  board  of  directors,  called 
curators  or  trustees.  They  have  no  capital  stock,  and  con- 
sequently no  stockholders,  but  their  directors  are  elected  by 
a  synod  or  conference  or  an  association,  or  by  the  remaining 
trustees  when  a  vacancy  occurs.  They  are  perpetual  cor- 
porations, and  often  own  considerable  property,  which  has 
been  given  them,  and  which  can  be  used  in  any  way  mentioned 
in  their  charter  that  will  promote  the  best  interests  of  the 
institution. 

396.  Public  Service  Corporations. — Railroads  .  and 
street  railways  are  public  serv'ice  corporations.  They  have 
been  organized  for  the  accommodation  of  the  general  public 
— for  transporting  freight  from  one  place  to  another  and 
carry-ing  persons  from  place  to  place.  They  are  called  com- 
mon carriers,  and  for  the  service  they  render  they  are  permit- 
ted to  charge  reasonable  fares,  but  they  have  no  authority 
which  they  are  not  specifically  given  by  law,  and  being  created 
for  the  public  good  the  State  has  the  right  to  regulate  their 
freight  and  passenger  rates  and  to  fix  them  within  reasonable 
bounds.  It  also  has  the  power  to  require  them  to  exercise 
the  strictest  care  and  diligence  to  prevent  accidents  to  pas- 
sengers and  loss  of  freight,  and  to  avoid  injury  to  persons  on 
the  track. 


430  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

There  are  other  public  service  corporations,  such  as  tele- 
graph and  telephone  companies,  electric  light  and  gas  light 
companies  and  water  companies.  All  of  these  companies  can 
exercise  no  power  except  such  as  is  given  them  by  law,  and 
the  State  or  the  city  may  prescribe  rules  by  which  they  may 
do  business,  and  they  are  not  permitted  to  fix  the  charges  for 
the  services  rendered  according  to  their  own  will. 

But  it  is  difficult  for  the  public  or  for  the  city  council  or 
legislators  to  know  what  is  a  just  charge.  Just  rates  depend 
upon  the  cost  of  the  company's  plant,  the  amount  of  money 
it  must  pay  for  labor  and  fuel  and  materials  and  equipment, 
and  the  cost  of  these  things  can  be  known  only  by  an  examina- 
tion of  its  books.  City  councils  and  legislators  are  rarely  in  a 
position  to  make  such  examination.  The  State  has  therefore 
created  a  Public  Service  Commission,  composed  of  men  who 
give  their  entire  time  to  such  matters.  They  are  aided  by 
numerous  expert  accountants,  engineers,  electricians  and 
materialmen,  who  can  by  close  examination  furnish  the  neces- 
sary information,  and  then  the  Commission  fixes  the  rates 
that  the  company  may  charge,  and  also  requires  it  to  make 
any  needed  improvements. 

397.  Municipal  Corporations  are  cities,  towns,  school 
districts,  drainage  districts,  public  road  districts,  or 
other  like  subdivisions  of  the  government.  They  have 
officers,  who  act  for  them  just  as  do  those  of  private  corpora- 
tions. To  illustrate,  a  city  instead  of  a  president  will  have  a 
mayor,  instead  of  a  board  of  directors  it  will  have  a  board  of 
aldermen  pr  a  city  council,  instead  of  stockholders  it  will  have 
voters  and  taxpayers,  and  it  will  have  such  other  officers  as 
may  be  neces.sary  for  the  transaction  of  its  business,  and  like 
other  corporations  it  can  exercise  no  authority  except  such  as 
is  given  it  by  the  General  Assembly. 

398.  Condemnation  and  Eminent  Domain. — Rail- 
roads and  all  municipal  corporations  are  given  power  to  take 
land  for  their  own  use.     A  railroad  may  take  a  private  house 


CORPORATIONS.  431 

in  town  or  part  of  a  farm  for  its  tracks,  a  city  can  take  pri- 
vate property  for  a  street  or  a  hospital  or  a  city  hall,  a  school 
district  can  take  a  lot  for  a  school  house  site,  and  a  drainage 
district  can  take  land  for  a  necessary  ditch.  But  none  of 
them  can  take  any  land  except  for  a  public  use,  and  they 
are  not  permitted  to  say  what  is  a  public  use,  nor  is  the 
Legislature,  but  whether  or  not  the  purpose  for  which  it  is 
proposed  to  take  the  land  is  a  public  use  is  to  be  determined 
by  the  circuit  court  or  some  higher  court.  Nor  can  any  of 
them  take  any  land  for  a  use  admitted  to  be  public  without 
first  paying  its  just  value.  They  cannot  take  it  with  a  prom- 
ise to  pay  for  it  afterwards,  but  before  they  can  touch  it  or  in 
anywise  disturb  the  owner  in  the  peaceable  enjoyment  of  it, 
they  must  pay  for  it.  Nor  are  they  permitted  to  decide  what 
is  its  just  value,  but  a  set  of  disinterested  commissioners  first 
fix  its  value,  and  then  if  either  side  is  dissatisfied  with  their 
award  he  can  have  a  jury  in  the  circuit  court  to  determine  its 
value.  But  if  the  court  decides  that  the  use  to  which  the  prop- 
erty is  to  be  put  is  a  public  use,  and  the  corporation  pays  to 
the  owner  or  into  court  for  him  its  value  as  fixed  by  the  jury,  he 
must  surrender  it,  although  it  be  his  cherished  home. 

This  is  called  the  law  of  eminent  domain,  and  the  suit  by 
which  the  owner's  land  is  taken  from  him  is  called  a  con- 
demnation proceeding.  The  law  of  eminent  domain  is  a  part 
of  the  law  of  the  land ;  it  means  that  the  owner  of  real  estate 
owns  it  subject  to  the  right  of  the  public  to  take  it  for  a  public 
use  by  paying  for  it  its  just  value. 

No  property  can  be  taken  for  a  private  use  with  or  with- 
out just  compensation  except  with  the  owner's  consent,  ex- 
cept for  a  necessary  private  way  to  a  house  or  farm,  or  a  nec- 
essary drain  for  sanitary  purposes;  but  for  a  public  use  it 
can  be  taken  without  his  consent  upon  the  payment  of  a  just 
compensation. 

Other  public  service  corporations,  such  as  water  and 
light  companies,  have  been  given  power  to  take  land  for  a 


432  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

public  use  in  a  limited  way,  but  no  city  or  railroad  or  school 
district  or  other  public  service  corporation  can  take  any  prop- 
erty for  any  use  unless  the  General  Assembly  gives  it  that 
power,  and  even  after  that  power  has  been  given  the  courts 
will,  in  every  case  in  which  their  aid  is  asked,  determine 
whether  the  particular  use  to  which  the  corporation  proposes 
to  put  the  property  is  a  public  use. 

The  law  of  eminent  domain  rarely  works  a  hardship  on 
the  owner  of  land.  The  public  corporation  has  the  right  to 
agree  with  the  owner  as  to  the  value  of  the  land  it  wishes  to 
take  for  the  public  use,  and  to  buy  it  at  a  price  that  is  usually 
satisfactory.  And  so  a  railroad  often  buys  its  right  of  way, 
and  the  owner  of  land  in  a  city  when  he  plats  it  and  divides 
it  into  blocks  and  lots  usually  donates  the  streets  to  public 
use.  But  if  they  cannot  agree  and  a  condemnation  proceed- 
ing is  resorted  to,  the  commissioners  or  jury  usually  fix  the 
value  of  the  land  taken  at  what  it  is  worth. 

399.  Necessity  for  Corporations. — Public  service  cor- 
porations and  many  business  corporations  are  a  necessity  of 
modern  commercial  life.  Few  men  would  now  be  willing  to 
live  fifty  or  a  hundred  miles  from  a  railroad.  Yet  a  railroad 
costs  so  much  money  that  few  men  alone  are  able  to  build 
one.  They  require  the  combined  capital  of  a  great  many 
men,  and  for  a  proper  handling  of  that  combined  capital  a 
corporation  seems  to  be  the  best  plan.  If  only  individuals 
were  given  the  right  to  build  them,  there  would  not  be  so 
many  miles  of  railroad  in  this  State,  nor  would  they  be  any- 
thing like  so  well  equipped  as  now. 

Banks  are  necessary  for  the  easy  and  ready  transaction 
of  business,  but  there  would  be  few  banks  if  there  were  no 
corporations  to  own  them.  Individuals  die,  but  corpora- 
tions need  never  die.  If  only  individuals  could  own  banks, 
the  business  men  of  the  town  or  city  would  be  very  slow  to 
deposit  their  money  in  banks ;  for  the  owner  might  suddenly 
die,  and  then  the  bank's  business  might  cease,  and  perhaps 


CORPORATIONS.  433 

the  depositors  would  not  be  able  to  get  their  money  until 
the  banker's  administrator  had  wound  up  his  estate  in  the 
probate  court;  and,  besides,  the  banker  would  be  slow  to 
loan  out  his  deposits,  knowing  that  if  he  shoUki  suddenly 
die  his  depositors  might  want  their  money,  and  if  it  were 
loaned  out  they  could  not  get  it.  But  where  the  bank  is  an 
incorporated  one,  the  president  or  cashier  or  any  other  of 
its  officers  may  die  or  become  insolvent,  his  place  is  filled  by 
the  directors,  and  the  bank's  business  goes  on  with  little  or 
no  interruption.  Business  men  understand  this  fact,  and 
hence  they  deposit  their  money  in  the  bank  and  it  loans  it 
out  to  borrowers,  who  use  it  in  various  kinds  of  business,  and 
more  business  means  more  employment  for  laborers.  In  this 
way  banks  do  a  great  deal  to  put  money  to  work,  and  to  keep 
it  at  work,  but  their  power  to  do  that  would  be  vastly  less 
if  they  were  not  incorporated. 

Corporations  for  the  transaction  of  many  other  kinds  of 
business  seem  to  be  a  necessity  of  a  great  people  devoted  to 
industry  and  to  the  development  of  the  resources  of  health- 
ful commerce. 

400.  Trusts  and  Combinations. — But  private  and 
public  service  corporations  have  no  natural  right  to  exist; 
they  exist  because  the  lawmakers,  and  the  people  who  elect 
lawmakers,  seem  to  think  them  necessary.  They  derive 
their  right  to  exist  from  government;  they  have  no  power  ex- 
cept what  the  government  permits  them  to  exercise.  The 
government  can,  therefore,  restrain  them  from  using  their 
powers  in  a  way  to  injure  the  general  public,  or  to  be  unjust 
to  their  employees.  It  can  prohibit  them  from  making  com- 
binations or  agreements  in  restraint  of  trade.  Where  cor- 
porations combine  to  unjustly  and  unreasonably  raise  the 
prices  of  the  things  they  sell  or  to  lower  the  prices  of  things 
they  buy,  the  combination  is  called  a  trust.  Sometimes  the 
agreement  is  to  lessen  the  amount  of  the  things  they  produce 
and  thereby  to  increase  their  price  to  the  consumer,  and  some- 


434  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

times  it  is  for  a  number  of  corporations  engaged  in  the  same 
kind  of  business  to  consolidate  into  one  company  and  thus 
destroy  competition  between  themselves.  The  State  has 
enacted  laws  that  make  illegal  all  combinations  of  this  kind 
which  result  in  injury  to  the  general  public,  and  whenever 
the  combination  can  be  shown  in  court  to  be  an  unjust  or  un- 
reasonable restraint  of  trade  the  court  will  put  a  stop  to  it, 
and  if  necessary  to  do  that  it  will  even  forfeit  the  charters  of 
the  corporations  in  the  combination  and  not  let  them  longer 
do  business  in  the  State. 

401.       Guiding  Principles  In  Controlling  Corporations. 

— The  proper  control  of  corporations,  and  the  preventing 
of  trusts,  is  one  of  the  most  serious  questions  in  our  pres- 
ent-day politics.  It  is  at  the  same  time  one  of  the  hardest 
and  most  difficult.  It  is  a  question  that  the  people  are  slow 
to  comprehend.  In  dealing  with  it  the  people  should  always 
have  before  their  minds  this  question.  What  is  best  for  the 
general  public?  And  to  answer  that  question  they  must  have 
an  intelligent  understanding  of  the  effects  of  large  combina- 
tions of  capital.  Government  must  always  see  to  it  that  all 
energetic  men  have  the  very  best  possible  chance  to  make  an 
honest  living,  and  whatever  combinations  lessen  that  chance 
or  weaken  their  powers  of  individual  manhood  must  be  de- 
stroyed. On  the  other  hand,  it  will  not  do  to  assume  that 
all  corporations,  or  even  all  combinations  of  companies,  are 
hurtful.  If  properly  hedged  about,  they  may  furnish  em- 
ployment to  industrious  persons,  who  might  otherwise  be 
idle,  and  they  often  result  in  selling  to  the  people  things  for 
their  comfort  at  lower  prices  than  would  prevail  without  them. 
But  our  Constitution  says  that  "all  men  have  a  natural  right 
to  the  enjoyment  of  the  gains  of  their  own  industry."  Then 
all  combinations  that  interfere  with  that  right  are  wrong,  and 
the  people,  through  the  various  departments  of  their  govern- 
ment, should  prevent  them.     Justice  to  all  men  should  be  the 


CORPORATIONS.  435 

controlling  principle  in  dealing  with  trusts,  as  in  determining 

every  other  duty  of  man  to  man. 

Questions  on  Chapter  XIL 

1.  Who  may  make  contracts?     (389) 

2.  What  is  said  of  partnerships  and  liability  of  partners?     (389) 

3.  WTiy  do  men  form  corporations?     (389) 

4.  For  what  other  reasons?     (389) 

5.  Are  all  companies  corporations?     (389) 

6.  How  is  a  partnership  properly  spoken  of?     (389) 

7.  In  what  name  may  an  individual  do  business?     (389) 

8.  Give  an  illustration.     (389) 

9.  Could  that  same  company  be  owned  by  a  partnership?     (389) 

10.  What  would  each  partner  be  liable  for?     (389) 

11.  In  what  business  could  it  engage?     (389) 

12.  Illustrate  how  a  corporation  may  be  formed?     (389) 

13.  Ha\4ng  been  chartered,  what  would  it  do?     (389) 

14.  Who  would  be  the  owners  of  the  company?     (389) 

15.  Who  would  elect  the  directors  and  who  the  officers?     (389) 

16.  Who  declare  the  dividends?     (389) 

17.  How  many  directors  and  stockholders?     (390) 

18.  Upon  what  does  the  stockholder's  interest  depend?     (390) 

19.  How  many  votes  for  directors  has  he?     (390) 

20.  What  may  he  draw  out  of  the  company?     (390) 

21.  What  is  the  extent  of  his  liability?     (390) 

22.  How  may  he  withdraw  from  the  company?     (390) 

23.  Suppose  he  dies,  must  the  company  die  too?     (390) 

24.  But  suppose  the  compjany  were  a  partnership  what  would  be  the 

effect  of  his  death?     (390) 

25.  How,  then,  is  a  corporation  defined?     (391) 

26.  Whence  come  its  powers?     (391) 

27.  WTiat  must  its  name  indicate?     (391) 

28.  The  number  and  residence  of  directors  and  stockholders?     (391) 

29.  How  long  may  a  corporation  exist?     (392) 

30.  WTiat  real  estate  may  it  own?     (393) 

31.  What  are  foreign  corporations?     (394) 

32.  Upon  what  terms  may  they  do  business  here?     (394) 

33.  What  is  said  of  educational  corporations?     (395) 

34.  What  is  said  of  railroad  and  street  railway  companies?     (396) 

35.  What  other  public  service  corporations  are  mentioned?     (396) 

36.  What  power  may  a  public  service  corporation  exercise?     (396) 


436  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  OF  MISSOURI. 

37.  What  are  municipal  corporations?     (397) 

38.  What  similarity  between  them  and  private  corporations?     (397) 

39.  What  right   have  railroads  or  municipal  corporations  towards 

private  lands?     (398) 

40.  What  must  the  use  be?     (398) 

41.  Who  has  the  right  to  say  when  the  use  is  public?     (398) 

42.  When  may  they  take  land  for  a  public  use?     (398) 

43.  Who  decides  what  is  its  just  value?     (398) 

44.  What  is  the  law  by  which  private  property  is  taken  for  a  public 

use  called?     (398) 

45.  And  what  is  the  suit  by  which  that  is  done  called?     (398) 

46.  Can  private  property  be  taken  for  a  private  use?     (398) 

47.  When  may  a  city  or  railroad,  etc.,  take  private  property  for  any 

use?     (398) 

48.  Does  this  law  often  work  a  hardship?     Why?     (398) 

49.  What  is  said  about  the  necessity  for  corporations?     (399) 

50.  Do  corporations  have  a  natural  right  to  exist?     (400) 

51.  Where  do  they  get  that  right?     (400) 

52.  What  power  have  they?     (400) 

53.  How  may  the  government  restrain  them?     (400) 

54.  Give  some  illustrations.     (400) 

55.  What  laws  restraining  them  has  the  State  enacted?     (400) 

56.  What  is  said  of  the  difficulty  of  controlling  corporations?     (401) 

57.  What  must  government  always  see  to?     (401) 

58.  What  does  our  Constitution  say?     (401) 

59.  What  should  be  the  controlling  principle  in  all  public  matters? 

(401) 


APPENDIX 

(TO  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT. 


THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

PREAMBLE. 

« 

We,  the  people  of  the  United  States,  in  order  to  form  a  more  per- 
fect union,  establish  justice,  insure  domestic  tranquility,  provide  for  the 
common  defense,  promote  the  general  welfare,  and  secure  the  blessings 
of  liberty  to  ourselves  and  our  posterity,  do  ordain  and  establish  this 
Constitution  for  the  United  States  of  America. 

ARTICLE  I.     LEGISLATIVE  DEPARTMENT. 

Section  I.     Congress  in  General. 

All  legislative  powers  herein  granted  shall  be  vested  in  a  Congress 
of  the  United  States,  which  shall  consist  of  a  Senate  and  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives. 

Section  II.     House  of  Representatives. 

1.  The  House  of  Representatives  shall  be  composed  of  members 
chosen  every  second  year  by  the  people  of  the  several  States,  and  the 
electors  in  each  State  shall  have  the  qualifications  requisite  for  electors 
of  the  most  numerous  branch  of  the  State  legislature. 

2.  No  person  shall  be  a  Representative  who  shall  not  have  attained  to 
the  age  of  twenty-five  years,  and  been  seven  years  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States,  and  who  shall  not,  when  elected,  be  an  inhabitant  of  that  State 
in  which  he  shall  be  chosen. 

*3.  Representatives  and  direct  taxes  shall  be  apportioned  among 
the  several  States  which  may  be  included  within  this  Union,  according 
to  their  respective  numbers,  which  shall  be  determined  by  adding  to  the 
whole  number  of  free  persons,  including  those  bound  to  service  for  a  term 
of  years,  and  excluding  Indians  not  taxed,  three-fifths  of  all  other  persons. 


*NoTE. — So  much  of  clause  3  of  section  2  as  requires  direct  taxes  to 
be  apportioned  among  the  States  has  been  superseded  by  the  sixteenth 
amendment,  page    452. 

(437) 


438  APPENDIX. 

The  actual  enumeration  shall  be  made  within  three  years  after  the  first 
meeting  of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  and  within  every  subsequent 
term  of  ten  years,  in  such  manner  as  they  shall  by  law  direct.  The  number 
of  Representatives  shall  not  exceed  one  for  every  thirty  thousand,  but 
each  State  shall  have  at  least  one  Representative;  and  until  such  enumer- 
ation shall  be  made,  the  State  of  New  Hampshire  shall  be  entitled  to  choose 
three,  Massachusetts  eight,  Rhode  Island  and  Providence  Plantations  one, 
Connecticut  five.  New  York  six,  New  Jersey  four,  Pennsylvania  eight, 
Delaware  one,  Maryland  six,  Virginia  ten,  North  Carolina  five,  South  Car- 
olina five,  and  Georgia  three. 

4.  When  vacancies  happen  in  the  representation  from  any  State, 
the  executive  authority  thereof  shall  issue  writs  of  election  to  fill  such 
vacancies. 

5.  The  House  of  Representatives  shall  choose  their  Speaker  and 
other  officers,  and  shall  have  the  sole  power  of  impeachment. 

Section  III.     Senate. 
*1.     The  Senate  of  the  United  States  shall  be  composed  of  two  Sen- 
ators from  each  State,  chosen  by  the  Legislature  thereof,  for  six  years; 
and  each  Senator  shall  have  one  vote. 

2.  Immediately  after  they  shall  be  assembled  in  consequence  of 
the  first  election,  they  shall  be  divided  as  equally  as  may  be  into  three 
classes.  The  seats  of  the  Senators  of  the  first  class  shall  be  vacated  at 
the  expiration  of  the  second  year;  of  the  second  class,  at  the  expiration 
of  the  fourth  year,  and  of  the  third  class,  at  the  expiration  of  the  sixth 
year,  so  that  one-third 'may  be  chosen  every  second  year;  and  if  vacancies 
happen  by  resignation  or  otherv/ise  during  the  recess  of  the  legislature  of 
any  State,  the  executive  thereof  may  make  temporary  appointments 
until  the  next  meeting  of  the  legislature,  which  shall  then  fill  such  va- 
cancies. 

3.  No  person  shall  be  a  Senator  who  shall  not  have  attained  to  the 
age  of  thirty  years,  and  been  nine  years  a  citizen  of  the  United  States, 
and  who  shall  not,  when  elected,  be  an  inhabitant  of  that  State  for  which 
he  shall  be  chosen. 

4.  The  Vice-President  of  the  United  States  shall  be  President*  of 
the  Senate,  but  shall  have  no  vote,  unless  they  be  equally  divided. 

5.  The  Senate  shall  choose  their  other  officers,  and  also  a  Pres- 
ident pro  tempore  in  the  absence  of  the  \^ice- President,  or  when  he  shall 
exercise  the  office  of  President  of  the  United  States. 


*NoTE.^ — The  words  "chosen  by  the  Legislature  thereof"  in  the  first 
clause  of  section  3  have  been  superseded  by  the  seventeenth  amendment, 
page  452.  .       ' 


APPENDIX.  -         439 

6.  The  Senate  shall  have  the  sole  power  to  try  all  impeachments. 
When  sitting  for  that  purpose,  they  shall  be  on  oath  or  affirmation.  When 
the  President  of  the  United  States  is  tried,  the  Chief  Justice  shall  preside; 
and  no  person  shall  be  convicted  without  the  concurrence  of  two-thirds 
of  the  members  present. 

7.  Judgment  in  cases  of  impeachment  shall  not  extend  further 
than  to  removal  from  office,  and  disqualification  to  hold  and  enjoy  any 
office  of  honor,  trust,  or  profit  under  the  United  States;  but  the  party 
convicted  shall,  nevertheless,  be  liable  and  subject  to  indictment,  trial, 
judgment,  and  punishment,  according  to  law. 

Section  IV.    Both  Houses. 

1.  The  times,  places,  and  manner  of  holding  elections  for  Senators 
and  Representatives  shall  be  prescribed  in  each  State  by  the  Legislature 
thereof;  but  the  Congress  may  at  any  time  by  law  make  or  alter  such 
regulations,  except  as  to  the  places  of  choosing  Senators. 

2.  The  Congress  shall  assemble  at  least  once  in  every  year,  and 
such  meeting  shall  be  on  the  first  Monday  in  December,  unless  they  shall 
by  law  appoint  a  different  day. 

Section  V.    The  Houses  Separately. 

1.  Each  house  shall  be  the  judge  of  the  elections,  returns,  and 
qualifications  of  its  own  members,  and  a  majority  of  each  shall  constitute 
a  quorum  to  do  business;  but  a  smaller  number  may  adjourn  from  day  to 
day,  and  may  be  authorized  to  compel  the  attendance  of  absent  mem- 
bers, in  such  manner,  and  under  such  penalties,  as  each  house  may  pro- 
vide. 

2.  Each  house  may  determine  the  rules  of  its  proceedings,  punish 
its  members  for  disorderly  behavior,  and  with  the  concurrence  of  two- 
thirds,  expel  a  member. 

3.  Each  house  shall  keep  a  journal  of  its  proceedings,  and  from 
time  to  time  publish  the  same,  excepting  such  parts  as  may  in  their  judg- 
ment require  secrecy,  and  the  yeas  and  nays  of  the  members  of  either 
house  on  any  question  shall,  at  the  desire  of  one-fifth  of  those  present, 
be  entered  on  the  journal. 

4.  Neither  house,  during  the  session  of  Congress,  shall,  without 
the  consent  of  the  other,  adjourn  for  more  than  three  days,  nor  to  any 
other  place  than  that  in  which  the  two  houses  shall  be  sitting. 

Section  VI.    Privileges  and  Disabilities  of  Members. 

1,  The  Senators  and  Representatives  shall  receive  a  compensation 
for  their  services,  to  be  ascertained  by  law  and  paid  out  of  the  Treasury 


440  APPENDIX. 

of  the  United  States.  They  shall,  in  all  cases  except  treason,  felony, 
and  breach  of  the  peace,  be  privileged  from  arrest  during  their  attend- 
ance at  the  session  of  their  respective  houses,  and  in  going  to  and  return- 
ing from  the  same;  and  for  any  speech  or  debate  in  either  house  they 
shall  not  be  questioned  in  any  other  place. 

2.  No  Senator  or  Representative  shall,  during  the  time  for  which 
he  was  elected,  be  appointed  to  any  civil  office  under  the  authority  of  the 
United  States,  which  shall  have  been  created,  or  the  emoluments  where- 
of shall  have  been  increased  during  such  time;  and  no  person  holding 
any  office  under  the  United  States  shall  be  a  member  of  either  house  dur- 
ing his  continuance  in  office. 

Section  Vn.     Mode  of  Passing  Laws. 

1.  All  bills  for  raising  revenue  shall  originate  in  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives; but  the  Senate  may  propose  or  concur  with  amendments 
as  on  other  bills. 

2.  Every  bill  which  shall  have  passed  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives and  the  Senate  shall,  before  it  become  a  law,  be  presented  to  the 
President  of  the  United  States;  if  he  approves  he  shall  sign  it,  but  if  not 
he  shall  return  it,  with  his  objections,  to  that  house  in  which  it  shall  have 
originated,  who  shall  enter  the  objections  at  large  on  their  journal  and 
proceed  to  reconsider  it.  If  after  such  reconsideration  two-thirds  of 
that  house  shall  agree  to  pass  the  bill,  it  shall  be  sent,  together  with  the 
objections,  to  the  other  house,  by  which  it  shall  likewise  be  reconsidered, 
and  if  approved  by  two-thirds  of  that  house  is  shall  become  a  law.  But 
in  all  such  cases  the  votes  of  both  houses  shall  be  determined  by  yeas 
and  nays,  and  the  names  of  the  persons  voting  for  and  against  the  bill 
shall  be  entered  on  the  journal  of  each  house  respectively.  If  any  bill 
shall  not  be  returned  by  the  President  within  ten  days  (Sundays  ex- 
cepted) after  it  shall  have  been  presented  to  him,  the  same  shall  be  a 
law,  in  like  manner  as  if  he  had  signed  it,  unless  the  Congress  by  their 
adjournment  prevent  its  return,  in  which  case  it  shall  not  be  a  law. 

3.  Every  order,  resolution,  or  vote  to  which  the  concurrence  of  the 
Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  may  be  necessary  (except  on  a 
question  of  adjournment)  shall  be  presented  to  the  President  of  the  United 
States;  and  before  the  same  shall  take  effect,  shall  be  approved  by  him, 

■  or  being  disapproved  by  him,  shall  be  repassed  by  two-thirds  of  the  Senate 
and  House  of  Representatives,  according  to  the  rtiles  and  limitatiqns 
prescribed  in  the  case  of  a  bill. 


APPENDIX.  441 


/  Section  VBI.    Powers  Granted  to  Congress. 

The  Congress  shall  have  power: 

1.  To  lay  and  collect  taxes,  duties,  imposts,  and  excises,  to  pay 
the  debts  and  provide  for  the  common  defense  and  general  welfare  of 
the  United  States;  but  all  duties,  imposts,  and  excises  shall  be  uniform 
throughout  the  United  States; 

2.  To  borrow  money  on  the  credit  of  the  United  States; 

3.  To  regulate  commerce  with  foreign  nations  and  among  the  sev- 
eral States,  and  with  the  Indian  tribes; 

4.  To  establish  a  uniform  rule  of  naturalization,  and  uniform  laws 
on  the  subject  of  bankruptcies  throughout  the  United  States; 

5.  To  coin  money,  regulate  the  value  thereof,  and  of  foreign  coin, 
and  fix  the  standard  of  weights  and  measures; 

6.  To  provide  for  the  punishment  of  counterfeiting  the  securities 
and  current  coin  of  the  United  States; 

7.  To  establish  post-offices  and  post-roads; 

8.  To  promote  the  progress  of  science  and  useful  arts  by  securing 
for  limited  times  to  authors  and  inventors  the  exclusive  right  to  their 
respective  writings  and  discoveries; 

9.  To  constitute  tribunals  inferior  to  the  Supreme  Court; 

10.  To  define  and  punish  piracies  and  felonies  committed  on  the 
high  seas  and  offenses  against  the  law  of  nations; 

11.  To  declare  war,  grant  letters  of  marque  and  reprisal,  and  make 
rules  concerning  captures  on  land  and  water; 

12.  To  raise  and  support  armies,  but  no  appropriation  of  money 
to  that  use  shall  be  for  a  longer  term  than  two  years; 

13.  To  provide  and   maintain  a  navy; 

14.  To  make  rules  for  the  government  and  regulation  of  the  land 
and  naval  forces; 

15.  To  provide  for  calling  forth  the  militia  to  excute  the  laws  of 
the  Union,  suppress  insurrections  and  repel  invasions; 

16.  To  provide  for  organizing,  arming  and  disciplining  the  militia 
and  for  governing  such  part  of  them  as  may  be  employed  in  the  service 
of  the  United  States,  reserving  to  the  States  respectively  the  appoint- 
ment of  the  officers,  and  the  authority  of  training  the  militia  according 
to  the  discipline  prescribed  by  Congress; 

17.  To  exercise  exclusive  legislation  in  all  cases  whatsoever  over 
such  district  (not  exceeding  ten  miles  square)  as  may,  by  cession  of  par- 
ticular States  and  the  acceptance  of  Congress,  become  the  seat  of  the 
Government  of  the  United  States,  and  to  exercise  like  authority  over  all 
places  purchased  by  the  consent  of  the  Legislature  of  the  State  in  which 


442  APPENDIX. 


the  same  shall  be,  for  the  erection  of  forts,  magazines,  arsenals,  dock- 
yards, and  other  needful  buildings;  and 

18.  To  make  all  laws  which  shall  be  necessary  and  proper  for  carry- 
ing into  execution  the  foregoing  powers,  and  all  other  powers  vested  by 
this  Constitution  in  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  or  in  any 
department  or  officer  thereof. 

Section  IX.    Powers  Denied  to  the  United  States. 

1.  The  migration  or  importation  of  such  persons  as  any  of  the 
States  now  existing  shall  think  proper  to  admit  shall  not  be  prohibited 
by  the  Congress  prior  to  the  year  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eight, 
but  a  tax  or  duty  may  be  imposed  on  such  importation,  not  exceeding 
ten  dollars  for  each  person. 

2.  The  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  shall  not  be  suspended, 
unless  when  in  cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion  the  public  safety  may  re- 
quire it. 

3.  No  bill  of  attainder  or  ex  post  facto  law  shall  be  passed. 

4.  No  capitation  or  other  direct  tax  shall  be  laid,  unless  in  pro- 
portion to  the  census  or  enumeration  hereinbefore  directed  to  be  taken. 

5.  No  tax  or  duty  shall  be  laid  on  articles  exported  from  any  State. 

6.  No  preference  shall  be  given  by  any  regulation  of  commerce 
or  revenue  to  the  ports  of  one  State  over  those  of  another;  nor  shall  vessels 
bound  to  or  from  one  State  be  obliged  to  enter,  clear,  or  pay  duties  in 
another. 

7.  No  money  shall  be  drawn  from  the  Treasury  but  in  consequence 
of  appropriations  made  by  law;  and  a  regular  statement  and  account  of 
the  receipts  and  expenditures  of  all  public  money  shall  be  published  from 
time  to  time. 

8.  No  title  of  nobility  shall  be  granted  by  the  United  States;  and 
no  person  holding  any  office  of  profit  or  trust  under  them  shall,  without 
the  consent  of  the  Congress,  accept  of  any  present,  emolument,  office, 
or  title,  of  any  kind  whatever,  from  any  king,  prince,  or  foreign  State. 

Section  X.    Powers  Denied  to  the  States. 

1.  No  State  shall  enter  into  any  treaty,  alliance,  or  confederation; 
grant  letters  of  marque  and  reprisal;  coin  money;  emit  bills  of  credit; 
make  anything  but  gold  and  silver  coin  a  tender  in  payment  of  debts; 
pass  any  bill  of  attainder,  ex  post  facto  law,  or  law  impairing  the  obliga- 
tion of  contracts,  or  grant  any  title  of  nobility. 


APPENDIX.  ^  443 

2.  No  State  shall,  without  the  consent  of  the  Congress,  lay  any  im- 
posts or  duties  on  imports  or  exports,  except  what  may  be  absolutely 
necessary  for  executing  its  inspection  laws;  and  the  net  produce  of  all 
duties  and  imposts,  laid  by  any  State  on  imports  or  exports,  shall  be  for 
the  use  of  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States;  and  all  such  laws  shall  be 
subject  to  the  revision  and  control  of  the  Congress. 

3.  No  State  shall,  without  the  consent  of  Congress,  lay  any  duty 
of  tonnage,  keep  troops  or  ships  of  war  in  time  of  peace,  enter  into  any 
agreement  or  compact  with  another  State  or  with  a  foreign  power,  or 
engage  in  war,  unless  actually  invaded  or  in  such  imminent  danger  as 
will  not  admit  of  delay. 

ARTICLE  n.     EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT. 
Section  I.    President  and  Vice-President. 

1.  The  executive  power  shall  be  vested  in  a  President  of  the  United 
States  of  America.  He  shall  hold  his  office  during  the  term  of  four  years, 
and  together  with  the  Vice-President,  chosen  for  the  same  term,  be  elected 
as  follows: 

2.  Each  State  shall  appoint,  in  such  manner  as  the  Legislature 
thereof  may  direct,  a  number  of  electors,  equal  to  the  whole  number  of 
Senators  and  Representatives  to  which  the  State  may  be  entitled  in  the 
Congress;  but  no  Senator  or  Representative,  or  person  holding  an  office 
of  trust  or  profit  under  the  United  States,  shall  be  appointed  an  elector. 

[*3,  The  electors  shall  meet  in  their  respectiv^e  States  and  vote  by 
ballot  for  two  persons,  of  whom  one  at  least  fihall  not  be  an  inhabitant 
of  the  same  State  with  themselves.  And  they  shall  make  a  list  of  all 
the  persons  voted  for,  and  of  the  number  of  votes  for  each;  which  list 
they  shall  sign  and  certify,  and  transmit  sealed  to  the  seat  of  the  government 
of  the  United  States,  directed  to  the  President  of  the  Senate.  The  Pres- 
ident of  the  Senate  shall,  in  the  presence  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives, open  all  the  certificates,  and  the  votes  shall  then  be  counted. 
The  person  having  the  greatest  number  of  votes  shall  be  the  President, 
if  such  number  be  a  majority  of  the  whole  number  of  electors  appointed; 
and  if  there  be  more  than  one  who  have  such  majority,  and  have  an  equal 
number  of  votes,  then  the  House  of  Representatives  shall  immediately 
choose  by  ballot  one  of  them  for  President ;  and  if  no  person  have  a  ma- 
jority, then  from  the  five  highest  on  the  list  the  said    house    shall  in  like 


*NoTE — This  clause  has  been  superseded  by  the  twelfth  amendment, 
page  450. 


444  APPENDIX. 

( 
manner  choose  the  President.  But  in  choosing  the  President  the  votes 
shall  be  taken  by  States,  the  representation  from  each  State  having  one 
vote;  a  quorum  for  this  purpose  shall  consist  of  a  member  or  members 
from  two-thirds  of  the  States,  and  a  majority  of  all  the  States  shall  be 
necessary  to  a  choice.  In  every  case,  after  the  choice  of  the  President 
the  person  having  the  greatest  number  of  votes  of  the  electors  shall  be 
the  Vice-President.  But  if  there  should  remain  two  or  more  who  have 
equal  votes,  the  Senate  shall  choose  from  them  by  ballot  the  Vice-President.] 

4.  The  Congress  may  determine  the  time  of  choosing  the  electors 
and  the  day  on  which  they  shall  give  their  votes,  which  day  shall  be  the 
same  throughout  the  United  States. 

5.  No  person  except  a  natural-born  citizen,  or  a  citizen  of  the 
United  States  at  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  this  Constitution,  shall  be 
eligible  to  the  office  of  President ;  neither  shall  any  person  be  eligible  to 
that  office  who  shall  not  have  attained  to  the  age  of  thirty-five  years, 
and  been  fourteen  years  a  resident  within  the  United  States. 

6.  In  case  of  the  removal  of  the  President  from  office,  or  of  his 
death,  resignation,  or  inability  to  discharge  the  powers  and  duties  of  the 
said  office,  the  same  shall  devolve  on  the  Vice-President,  and  the  Con- 
gress may  by  law  provide  for  the  case  of  removal,  death,  resignation,  or 
inability,  both  of  the  President  and  Vice-President,  declaring  what  offi- 
cer shall  then  act  a^  President,  and  such  officer  shall  act  accordingly 
until  the  disability  be  removed  or  a  President  shall  be  elected. 

7.  The  President  shall,  at  stated  times,  receive  for  his  services  a 
compensation,  which  shall  neither  be  increased  nor  diminished  during  the 
period  for  which  he  shall  have  been  elected,  and  he  shall  not  receive  within 
that  period  any  other  emoKiment  from  the  United  States  or  any  of  them. 

8.  Before  he  enter  on  the  execution  of  his  office  he  shall  take  the 
following  oath  or  affirmation: 

"I  do  solemnly  swear  (or  affirm)  that  I  will  faithfully  execute  the 
office  of  President  of  the  United  States,  and  will  to  the  best  of  my  ability 
preserve,  protect,  and  defend  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States." 

Section  II.    Powers  of  the  President. 

1.  The  President  shall  be  Commander-in-chief  of  the  Army  and 
Navy  of  the  United  States,  and  of  the  militia  of  the  several  States,  when 
called  into  the  actual  service  of  the  United  States;  he  may  require  the 
opinion,  in  writing,  of  the  principal  officer  in  each  of  the  executive  de- 
partments, upon  any  subject  relating  to  the  duties  of  their  respective 
offices,  and  he  shall  have  power  to  grant  reprieves  and  pardons  for  of- 
fenses against  the  United  States,  except  in  cases  of  impeachment. 


APPENDIX.  445 

2.  He  shall  have  power,  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the 
Senate,  to  make  treaties,  provided  two-thirds  of  the  Senators  present 
concur;  and  he  shall  nominate,  and,  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent 
of  the  Senate,  shall  appoint  ambassadors,  other  public  ministers  and 
consuls,  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  all  other  officers  of  the  United 
States,  whose  appointments  are  not  herein  otherwise  provided  for,  and 
which  shall  be  established  by  law  but  the  Congress  may  by  law  vest  the 
appointment  of  such  inferior  officers,  as  they  think  proper,  in  the  Pres- 
ident alone,  in  the  courts  of  law,  or  in  the  heads  of  departments. 

3.  The  President  shall  have  power  to  fill  up  all  vacancies  that  may 
happen  during  the  recess  of  the  Senate,  by  granting  commissions  which 
shall  expire  at  the  end  of  their  next  session. 

Section  m.     Duties  of  the  President. 

He  shall  from  time  to  time  give  to  the  Congress  information  of  the 
state  of  the  Union,  and  recommend  to  their  consideration  such  measures 
as  he  shall  judge  necessary  and  expedient;  he  may,  on  extraordinary 
occasions,  convene  both  houses,  or  either  of  them,  and  in  case  of  disagree- 
ment between  them  with  respect  to  the  time  of  adjournment,  he  may 
adjourn  them  to  such  time  as  he  shall  think  proper;  he  shall  receive  am- 
bassadors and  other  public  ministers;  he  shall  take  care  that  the  laws 
be  faithfully  executed,  and  shall  commission  all  the  officers  of  the  United 
States. 

Section  IV.     Impeachment. 

The  President,  Vice-President,  and  all  civil  officers  of  the  United 
States  shall  be  removed  from  office  on  impeachment  for  and  conviction 
of  treason,  bribery,  or  other  high  crimes  and  misdemeanors. 

ARTICLE   m.     JUDICIAL    DEPARTMENT. 

Section  I.    United  States  Courts. 

The  judicial  power  of  the  United  States  shall  be  vested  in  one  Su- 
preme Court,  and  in  such  inferior  courts  as  the  Congress  may  from  time 
to  time  ordain  and  establish.  The  judges,  both  df  the  supreme  and 
inferior  courts,  shall  hold  their  offices  during  good  behavior,  and  shall, 
at  stated  times,  receive  for  their  services  a  compensation  which  shall  not 
be  diminished  during  their  continuance  in  office. 

Section  n.     Jurisdiction  of  the  United  States  Courts. 
1.     The  judicial  power  shall  extend  to  all  cases,  in  law  and  equity, 
arising  under  this  Constitution,  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  and  trea- 
ties made,  or  which  shall  be  made,  under  their  authority;  to  all  cases 


446  APPENDIX. 

affecting  ambassadors,  other  public  ministers,  and  consuls;  to  all  cases 
of  admiralty  and  maritime  jurisdiction;  to  controversies  to  which  the 
United  States  shall  be  a  party;  to  controversies  between  two  or  more 
States;  between  a  State  and  citizens  of  another  State;  between  citizens 
of  different  States;  between  citizens  of  the  same  State  claiming  lands 
under  grants  of  different  States,  and  between  a  State,  or  the  citizens 
thereof,  and  foreign  States,  citizens,  or  subjects. 

2.  In  all  cases  affecting  ambassadors,  other  public  ministers  and 
consuls,  and  those  in  which  a  State  shall  be  a  party,  the  Supreme  Court 
shall  have  original  jurisdiction.  In  all  the  other  cases  before  mentioned 
the  Supreme  Court  shall  have  appellate  jurisdiction,  both  as  to  law  and 
fact,  with  such  exceptions  and  under  such  regulations  as  the  Congress 
shall  make. 

3.  The  trial  of  all  crimes,  except  in  cases  of  impeachment,  shall 
be  by  jury;  and  such  trials  shall  be  held  in  the  State  where  the  said  crimes 
shall  have  been  committed;  but  when  not  committed  within  any  State, 
the  trial  shall  be  at  such  place  or  places  as  the  Congress  may  by  law  have 
directed. 

Section  in.     Treason. 

1.  Treason  against  the  United  States  shall  consist  only  in  levying 
war  against  them,  or  in  adhering  to  their  enemies,  giving  them  aid  and 
comfort.  No  person  shall  be  convicted  of  treason  unless  on  the  testi- 
mony of  two  witnesses  to  the  same  overt  act,  or  on  confession  in  open 
court. 

2.  The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  declare  the  punishment  of 
treason,  but  no  attainder  of  treason  shall  work  corruption  of  blood  or 
forfeiture  except  during  the  life  of  the  person  attainted. 

ARTICLE   IV.     THE   STATES   AND   THE   FEDERAL 
GOVERNMENT. 

Section  I.     State  Records. 

Full  faith  and  credit  shall  be  given  in  each  State  to  the  public  acts, 
records,  and  judicial  proceedings  of  every  other  State.  And  the  Con- 
gress may  by  general  laws  prescribe  the  manner  in  which  such  acts,  rec- 
ords, and  proceedings  shall  be  proved,  and  the  effect  thereof. 

Section  H.    Privileges  of  Citizens,  etc. 

1.  The  citizens  of  each  State  shall  be  entitled  to  all  privileges  and 
immunities  of  citizens  in  the  several  States. 

2.  A  person  charged  in  any  State  with  treason,  felony,  or  other 
crime,  who  shall  flee  from  justice,  and  be  found  in  another  State,  shall 


APPENDIX.  447 

on  demajid  of  the  executive  authority  of  the  State  from  vhich  he  fled, 
be  delivered  up,  to  be  removed  to  the  State  having  jurisdiction  of  the 
crime. 

3.  No  person  held  to  service  or  labour  in  one  State,  under  the  laws 
thereof,  escaping  into  another,  shall,  in  consequence  of  any  law  or  regu- 
lation therein,  be  discharged  from  such  service  or  labour,  but  shall  be 
delivered  up  on  clain\  of  the  p)arty  to  whom  such  service  or  labour  may 
be  due. 

Section  HI.     New  States  and  Territories. 

1.  New  States  may  be  admitted  by  the  Congress  into  this  Union; 
but  no  new  State  shall  be  formed  or  erected  within  the  jurisdiction  of 
any  other  State;  nor  any  State  be  formed  by  the  junction  of  two  or  more 
States  or  parts  of  States,  without  the  consent  of  the  Legislatures  of  the 
States  concerned  as  well  as  of  the  Congress. 

2.  The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  dispose  of  and  make  all  need- 
ful rules  and  regulations  respecting  the  territory  or  other  property  be- 
longing to  the  United  States;  and  nothing  in  this  Constitution  shall  be 
so  construed  as  to  prejudice  any  claims  of  the  United  States  or  of  any 
particular  State. 

Section  IV.     Guarantee  to  the  States. 

The  United  States  shall  guarantee  to  every  State  in  this  Union  a 
republican  form  of  government,  and  shall  protect  each  of  them  against 
invasion,  and  on  application  of  the  Legislature,  or  of  the  executive  (when 
the  Legislature  cannot  be  convened),  against  domestic  violence. 

ARTICLE   V.    POWER   OF   AMENDMENT. 

The  Congress,  whenever  two-thirds  of  both  houses  shall  deem  it 
necessary,  shall  propose  amendments  to  this  Constitution,  or,  on  the 
application  of  the  Legislatures  of  two-thirds  of  the  several  States,  shall 
call  a  convention  for  proposing  amendments,  which  in  either  case  shall 
be  valid  to  all  intents  and  purposes  as  part  of  this  Constitution,  when 
ratified  by  the  Legislatures  of  three-fourths  of  the  several  States,  or  by 
conventions  in  three-fourths  thereof,  as  the  one  or  the  other  mode  of 
ratification  may  be  proposed  by  the  Congress,  provided  that  no  amend- 
ment w  hich  may  be  made  prior  to  the  year  one  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  eight  shall  in  any  manner  affect  the  first  and  fourth  clauses  in  the 
ninth  section  of  the  first  article,  and  that  no  State,  without  its  consent, 
shall  be  deprived  of  its  equal  suffrage  in  the  Senate. 


448  APPENDIX. 


ARTICLE  VI.     PUBLIC  DEBT,  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  CONSTI- 
TUTION, CaIH  of  OFFICE,  RELIGIOUS  T^SXc 

1.  AH  debts  contracted  and  engagements  e;..iirea  l.xto,  before  the 
adoption  of  this  Constitution,  shall  be  as  valid  against  the  United  States 
under  th'.?  Constitution  as  under  the  confederation. 

2.  This  Constitution  and  the  laws  of  the  United  States  which  shall 
be  made  in  pursuance  thereof,  and  all  treaties  made,  or  which  shall  be 
made,  under  the  authority  of  the  United  States,  shall  be  the  supreme 
law  of  the  land;  and  the  judges  in  every  State  shall  be  bound  thereby, 
anything  in  the  Constitution  or  laws  of  any  State  to  the  contrary  not- 
withstanding. 

3.  The  Senators  and  Representatives  before  mentioned,  and  the 
members  of  the  several  State  Legislatures,  and  all  executive  and  judicial 
officers,  both  of  the  United  States  and  of  the  several  States,  shall  be 
bound  by  oath  or  affirmation  to  support  this  Constitution;  but  no  reli- 
gious test  shall  ever  be  required  as  a  qualification  to  any  office  or  public 
trust  under  the  United  States. 

ARTICLE  Vn.     RATIFICATION  OF  THE  CONSTI- 
TUTION. 

The  ratification  of  the  conventions  of  nine  States  shall  be  sufficient 
for  the  establishment  of  this  Constitution  between  the  States  so  ratifying 
the  same. 


AMENDMENTS. 


First  Amendment. 

Congress  shall  make  no  law  respecting  an  establishment  of  religion, 
or  prohibiting  the  free  ejcercise  thereof;  or  abridging  the  freedon  of  speech 
or  of  the  press;  or  the  right  of  the  people  peaceably  to  assemble,  and  to 
petition  the  government  for  a  redress  of  grievances. 

Second  Amendment. 

A  well-regulated  militia  being  necessary  to  the  security  of  a  free 
state,  the  right  cf  the  people  to  keep  and  bear  arms  shall  not  be  infringed. 


APPENDIX.  449 


Third  Amendment. 
No  -'^H^er- shall,  in^lilne  of  peace,  be  quaftdood  in  any  house  without 


the  c<jn^i._ 
scribeci  by  law. 


wner,  nor  in  time  of  war,  but  in  a  manner  to  be  pre- 


Foxirth  Amendment.  Mt* 


The  right  of  the  people  to  be  secure  in  their  persons,  houses,  papers, 
and  effects,  against  unreasonable  searches  and  seizures,  shall  not  be 
violated,  and  no  warrants  shall  issue  but  upon  probable  cause,  supported 
by  oath  or  affirmation,  and  particularly  describing  the  place  to  be  searched, 
and  the  persons  or  things  to  be  seized. 

Fifth  Amendment. 

No  person  shall  be  held  to  answer  for  a  capital  or  otherwise  infa- 
mous crime,  unless  on  a  presentment  or  indictment  of  a  grand  jury,  ex- 
cept in  cases  arising  in  the  land  or  naval  forces,  or  in  the  militia,  when 
in  actual  service  in  time  of  war  or  public  danger;  nor  shall  any  person  be 
subject  for  the  same  offense  to  be  twice  put  in  jeopardy  of  life  or  limb;  nor 
shall  be  compelled  in  any  criminal  case  to  be  a  witness  against  himself, 
nor  be  deprived  of  life,  liberty,  or  property,  without  due  process  of  law; 
nor  shall  private  property  be  taken  for  public  use  without  just  com- 
pensation. 

Sixth  Amendment. 

In  all  criminal  prosecutions  the  accused  shall  enjoy  the  right  to  a 
speedy  and  public  trial,  by  an  impartial  jury  of  the  State  and  district 
wherein  the  crime  shall  have  been  committed,  which  district  shall  have 
been  previously  ascertained  by  law,  and  to  be  informed  of  the  nature  and 
cause  of  the  accusation;  to  be  confronted  with  the  witnesses  against  him; 
to  have  compulsory  process  for  obtaining  witnesses  in  his  favor,  and  to 
have  the  assistance  of  counsel  for  his  defense. 

Seventh  Amendment. 

In  suits  at  common  law,  where  the  value  in  controversy  shall  exceed 
twenty  dollars,  the  right  of  trial  by  jury  shall  be  preserved,  and  no  fact 
tried  by  a  jury  shall  be  otherwise  re-examined  in  any  court  of  the  United 
States,  than  according  to  the  rules  of  the  common  law. 

Eighth  Amendment. 
Excessive  bail  shall   not  be  required,   nor  excessive  fines  imposed, 
nor  cruel  and  unusual  punishments  inflicted. 


450  APPENDIX. 


Ninth  Amendment. 

The  enumeration  in  the  Constitution  of  certain  rights  shall  not  be 
construed  to  deny  or  disparage  others  retained  by  the  people. 

'    Tenth  Amendment. 

The  powers  not  delegated  to  the  United  States  by  the  Constitution, 
nor  prohibited  by  it  to  the  States,  are  reserved  to  the  States  respectively 
or  to  the  people. 

Eleventh  Amendment. 

The  judicial  power  of  the  United  States  shall  not  be  construed  to 
extend  to  any  suit  in  law  or  equity,  commenced  or  prosecuted  against 
one  of  the  United  States  by  citizens  of  another  State,  or  by  citizens  or 
subjects  of  any  foreign  State. 

Twelfth  Amendment. 

1.  The  electors  shall  meet  in  their  respective  States  and -vote  by 
ballot  for  President  and  Vice-President,  one  of  whom,  at  least,  shall  not 
be  an  inhabitant  of  the  same  State  with  themselves;  they  shall  name  in 
their  ballots  the  person  voted  for  as  President,  and  in  distinct  ballots  the 
person  voted  for  as  Vice-President,  and  they  shall  make  distinct  lists  of 
all  persons  voted  for  as  President,  and  of  all  persons  voted  for  as  Vice- 
President,  and  of  the  number  of  votes  for  each;  which  lists  they  shall 
sign  and  certify,  and  transmit  sealed  to  the  seat  of  the  government  of  the 
United  States,  directed  to  the  President  of  the  Senate.  The  President 
of  the  Senate  shall,  in  the  presence  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Repre- 
senatives,  open  all  the  certificates  and  the  votes  shall  then  be  counted. 
The  person  having  the  greatest  number  of  votes  for  President  shall  be 
President,  if  such  number  be  a  majority  of  the  whole  number  of  electors 
appointed;  and  if  no  person  have  such  majority,  then  from  the  persons 
having  the  highest  numbers  not  exceeding  three  on  the  list  of  those  voted 
for  as  President,  the  House  of  Representatives  shall  choose  immediately, 
by  ballot,  the  President.  But  in  choosing  the  President  the  votes  shall 
be  taken  by  States,  the  representation  from  each  State  having  one  vote; 
a  quorum  for  this  parpose  shall  consist  of  a  member  or  members  from 
two-thirds  of  the  States,  and  a  majority  of  all  the  states  shall  be  necessary 
to  a  choice.  -And  if  the  House  of  Representatives  shall  not  choose  a 
President  whenever  the  right  of  choice  shall  devolve  upon  them,  before 
the  fourth  day  of  March  next  following,  then  the  Vice-President  shall 


APPENDIX.  451 

act  as  President,  as  in  the  case  of  the  death  or  other  constitutional  dis- 
ability of  the  President. 

2.  The  person  having  the  greatest  number  of  votes  as  Vice-Presi- 
dent shall  be  the  Vice-President  if  such  number  be  a  majority, of  the 
whole  number  of  electors  appointed;  and  if  no  person  have  a  majority, 
then  from  the  two  highest  nuriibers  on  the  list  the  Senate  shall  choose 
the  Vice-President;  a  quorum  for  the  purpose  shall  consist  of  two-thirds 
of  the  whole  number  of  Senators,  and  a  majority  of  the, whole  number 
shall  be  necessary  to  a  choice. 

3.  But  no  person  constitutionally  ineligible  to  the  office  of  Presi- 
dent shall  be  eligible  to  that  of  Vice  President  of  the  United  States. 

Thirteenth  Amendment. 

1.  Neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude,  except  as  a  punish- 
ment for  crime  whereof  the  party  shall  have  been  duly  convicted,  shall 
exist  within  the  United  States  or  any  place  subject  to  their  jurisdiction. 

2.  Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce  this  article  by  appropri- 
ate legislation. 

Fourteenth  Amendment. 

1.  All  persons  born  or  naturalized  in  the  United  States,  and  subject 
to  the  jurisdiction  thereof,  are  citizens  of  the  United  States  and  of  the 
State  wherein  they  reside.  No  State  shall  make  or  enforce  any  law  which 
shall  abridge  the  privileges  or  immunities  of  citizens  of  the  United  States; 
nor  shall  any  State  deprive  any  person  of  life,  liberty  or  property  with- 
out due  process  of  law;  nor  deny  to  any  person  within  its  jurisdiction  the 
equal  protection  of  the  laws. 

2.  Representatives  shall  be  apportioned  among  the  several  States 
af:cording  to  their  respective  numbers,  counting  the  whole  number  of 
persons  in  each  State,  excluding.  Indians  not  taxed.  But  when  the  right 
to  vote  at  any  election  for  the  choice  of  electors  for  President  and  Vice- 
President  of  the  United  States,  Representatives  in  Congress,  the  ex- 
ecutive and  judicial  officers  of  a  State,  or  the  members  of  the  Legislature 
thereof,  is  denied  to  any  of  the  male  inhabitants  of  such  State,  being 
twenty-one  years  of  age,  and  citizens  of  the  United  States,  or  in  any  way 
abridged,  except  for  participation  in  rebellion,  or  other  crime,  the  basis 
of  representation  therein  shall  be  reduced  in  the  proportion  which  the 
number  of  such  male  citizens  shall  bear  to  the  whole  number  of  male 
citizens  twenty-one  years  of  age  in  such  State. 

3.  No  person  shall  be  a  Senator  or  Representative  in  Congress,  or 
elector  of  President  and  Vice-President,  or  hold  any  office,  civil  or  mili- 


452  APPENDIX. 

tary,  under  the  United  States  or  under  any  State,  who,  having  previously 
taken  an  oath  as  a  member  of  Congress,  or  as  an  officer  of  the  United  States, 
or  as  a  member  of  any  State  Legislature,  or  as  an  executive  or  judicial 
officer  "of  any  State,  to  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
shall  have  engaged  in  insurrection  or  rebellion  against  the  same,  or  given 
aid  or  comfort  to  the  enemies  thereof.  But  Congress  may,  by  a  vote 
of  two-thirds  of  each  house,  remove  such  disability. 

4.  The  validity  of  the  public  debt  of  the  United  States,  authorized 
by  law,  including  debts  incurred  for  payment  of  pensions  and  bounties 
for  services  in  suppressing  insurrection  or  rebellion,  shall  not  be  ques- 
tioned. But  neither  the  United  States  nor  any  State  shall  assume  or 
pay  any  debt  or  obligation  incurred  in  aid  of  insurrection  or  rebellion 
against  the  United  States,  or  any  claim  for  the  loss  or  emancipation  of 
any  slave;  but  all  such  debts,  obligations  and  claims  shall  be  held  illegal 
and  void. 

5.  The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce,  by  appropriate  legis- 
lation, the  provisions  of  this  article. 

Fifteenth  Amendment. 

1.  The  right  of  citizens  of  the  United  States  to  vote  shall  not  be 
denied  or  abridged  by  the  United  States  or  by  any  State  on  account  of 
race,  color,  or  previous  condition  of  servitude. 

2.  The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce  this  article  by  appro- 
priate legislation. 

Sixteenth  Amendment. 

The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  lay  and  collect  taxes  on  incomes, 
from  whatever  source  derived,    without  apportionment  among  the  several 
States,  and  without  regard  to  any  census  or  enumeration. 
■  * 

Seventeenth  Amendment. 

The  Senate  of  the  United  States  shall  be  composed  of  two  Senators 
from  each  State,  elected  by  the  people  thereof,  for  six  years;  and  each 
Senator  shall  have  one  vote.  The  electors  of  each  State  shall  have  the 
qualifications  requisite  for  electors  of  the  most  numerous  branch  of  the 
State  Legislature.  When  vacancies  happen  in  the  representation  of  any 
State  in  the  Senate,  the  executive  authority  of  such  State  shall  issue  writs 
of  election  to  fill  such  vacancies:  Provided,  that  the  Legislature  of  any 
'State  may  empower  the  executive  thereof  to  make  temporary  appoint- 
ments until  the  people  fill  the  vacancies  by  election  as  the  Legislature 
may,  direct.  This  amendment  shall  not  be  so  construed  as  to  affect  the 
election  or  term  of  any  Senator  chosen  before  it  becomes  valid  as  part 
of  the  Constitution. 


APPENDIX.  453 


THE  DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE. 
In  Congress,  July  4,  1776. 

When,  in  the  course  of  human  events,  it  becomes  necessary  for  one 
people  to  dissolve  the  political  bands  which  have  connected  them  with 
another,  and  to  assume  among  the  powers  of  the  earth  the  separate  and 
equal  station  to  which  the  laws  of  nature  and  of  nature's  God  entitle 
them,  a  decent  respect  to  the  opinions  of  mankind  requires  that  they 
should  declare  the  causes  which  impel  them  to  the  separation. 

We  hold  these  truths  to  be  self-evident,  that  all  men  are  created 
equal,  that  they  are  endowed  by  their  creator  with  certain  unalienable 
rights,  that  among  these  are  life,  liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness. 
That  to  secure  these  rights,  governments  are  instituted  among  men, 
deriving  their  just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed.  That 
whenever  any  form  of  government  becomes  destructive  of  these  ends,  it 
is  the  right  of  the  people  to  alter  or  to  abolish  it,  and  to  institute  new 
government,  laying  its  foundation  on  such  principles  and  organizing 
its  powers  in  such  form  as  to  them  shall  seem  most  likely  to  effect  their 
safety  and  happiness.  Prudence,  indeed,  will  dictate  that  governments 
long  established  should  not  be  changed  for  light  and  transient  causes; 
and  accordingly  all  experience  hath  shown  that  mankind  are  more  dis- 
posed to  suffer,  while  evils  are  sufferable,  than  to  right  themselves  by 
abolishing  the  forms  to  which  they  are  accustomed.  But  when  a  long 
train  of  abuses  and  usurpations  pursuing  invariably  the  same  object,  evinces 
a  design  to  reduce  them  under  absolute  despotism,  it  is  their  right,  it  is 
their  duty,  to  throw  off  such  government,  and  to  provide  new  guards 
for  their  future  security.  Such  has  been  the  patient  sufferance  of  these 
colonies;  and  such  is  now  the  necessity  which  constrains  them  to  alter 
their  former  systems  ot  government.  The  history  of  the  present  king 
of  Great  Britain  is  a  history  of  repeated  injuries  and  usurpations^  all  hav- 
ing in  direct  object  the  establishment  of  an  absolute  tyranny -over  these 
States.     To  prove  this,  let  facts  be  submitted  to  a  candid  world. 

He  has  refused  to  assent  to  laws,  the  most  wholesome  and  neces- 
sary for  the  public  good. 

He  has  forbidden  his  governors  to  pass  laws  of  immediate  and  pressing 
importance,  unless  suspended  in  their  operation  till  his  assent  should  be  ob- 
tained; and  when  so  suspended,  he  has  utterly  neglected  to  attend  to  them. 

He  has  refused  to  pass  other  laws  for  the  accommodation  of  large 
districts  of  people,  unless  those  people  would  relinquish  the  right  of  rep- 
resentation in  the  Legislature,  a  right  inestimable  to  them  and  formid- 
able to  tyrants  only. 


454  APPENDIX. 

He  has  called  together  legislative  bodies  at  places  unusual,  uncom- 
fortable, and  distant  from  the  depository  of  their  public  records,  for  the 
sole  purpose  of  fatiguing  them  into  compliance  with  his  measures. 

He  has  dissolved  representative  houses  repeatedly,  for  opposing 
with  manly  firmness  his  invasions  on  the  rights  of  the  people. 

He  has  refused  for  a  long  time,  after  such  dissolutions  to  cause  others 
to  be  elected;  whereby  the  legislative  powers,  incapable  of  annihilation, 
have  returned  to  the  people  at  large  for  their  exercise;  the  State  remain- 
ing in  the  meantime  exposed  to  all  the  dangers  of  invasion  from  without, 
and  convulsions  within. 

He  has  endeavored  to  prevent  the  population  of  these  States;  for 
that  purpose  obstructing  the  laws  for  naturalization  of  foreigners;  re- 
fusing to  pass  others  to  encourage  their  migration  hither,  and  raising  the 
conditions  of  new  appropriations  of  lands. 

'He  has  obstructed  the  administration  of  justice,  by  refusing  his 
assent  to  laws  for  establishing  judiciary  powers. 

He  has  made  judges  dependent  on  his  will  alone,  for  the  tenure  of 
their  offices,  and  the  amount  and  payment  of  their  salaries. 

He  has  erected  a  multitude  of  new  offices,  and  sent  hither  swarms  of 
officers,  to  harass  our  people,  and  eat  out  their  substance. 

He  has  kept  among,  us,  in  times  of  peace,  standing  armies  without 
the  consent  of  our  Legislature. 

He  has  affected  to  render  the  military  independent  of  and  superior 
to  the  civil  power. 

He  has  combined  with  others  to  subject  us  to  a  jurisdiction  foreign 
to  our  Constitution  and  unacknowledged  by  our  laws;  giving  his  assent 
to  their  acts  of  pretendend  legislation. 

For  quartering  large  bodies  of  armed  troops  among  us: 

For  protecting  them,  by  mock  trial,  from  punishment  for  any  mur- 
ders which  they  should  commit  on  the  inhabitants  of  these  States: 

For  cutting  off  our  trade  with  all  parts  of  the  world: 

For  imposing  taxes  on  us  without  our  consent: 

For  depriving  us  in  many  cases  of  the  benefits  of  trial  by  jury: 

For  transporting  us  beyond  seas  to  be  tried  for  pretended  offenses: 

For  abolishing  the  free  system  of  English  laws  in  a  neighboring  prov- 
ince, establishing  therein  an  arbitrary  government,  and  enlarging  its 
boundaries  so  as  to  render  it  at  once  an  example  and  fit  instrument  for 
introducing  the  same  absolute  rule  into  these  colonies: 

For  taking  away  our  charters,  abolishing  our  most  valuable  laws 
and  altering  fundamentally  the  forms  of  our  government : 

For  suspending  our  own  Legislature,  and  declaring  themselves  in- 
vested with  power  to  legislate  for  us  in  all  cases  whatsoever. 


APPENDIX.  455 

He  has  abdicated  government  here,  by  declaring  us  out  of  his  pro- 
tection and  waging  war  against  us. 

He  has  plundered  our  seas,  ravaged  our  coasts,  burnt  our  towns, 
and  destroyed  the  lives  of  our  people. 

He  is  at  this  time  transporting  large  armies  of  foriegn  mercenaries 
to  complete  the  work  of  death,  desolation  and  tyranny  already  begun 
with  circumstances  of  cruelty  and  perfidy  scarcely  paralleled  in  the  most 
barbarous  ages,  and  totally  unworthy  the  head  of  a  civilized  nation. 

He  has  constrained  our  fellow  citizens  taken  captive  on  the  high  seas 
to  bear  arms  against  their  country',  to  become  the  executioners  of  their 
friends  and  brethren,  or  to  fall  themselves  by  their  hands. 

He  has  excited  domestic  insurrection  amongst  us,  and  has  endeav- 
ored to  bring  on  the  inhabitants  of  our  frontiers  the  merciless  Indian 
savages,  whose  known  rule  of  warfare  is  an  undistinguished  destruction 
of  all  ages,  sexes  and  conditions. 

In  every  stage  of  these  oppressions  we  have  petitioned  for  redress 
in  the  most  humble  terms.  Our  repeated  petitions  have  been  answered 
only  by  repeated  injury.  A  prince,  whose  character  is  thus  marked  by 
every  act  which  may  define  a  tyrant,  is  unfit  to  be  the  ruler  of  a  free  people. 

Nor  have  we  been  wanting  in  attention  to  our  British  brethren.  We 
have  warned  them  from  time  to  time  of  attempts  by  their  Legislature  to 
extend  an  unwarrantable  jurisdiction  over  us.  We  have  reminded  them 
of  the  circumstances  of  our  emigration  and  settlement  here.  We  have 
appealed  to  their  native  justice  and  magnanimity,  and  we  have  conjured 
them  by  the  ties  of  our  common  kindred  to  disavow  these  usurpations,- 
which  would  inevitably  interrupt  our  connections  and  correspondence. 
They  too  have  been  deaf  to  the  voice  of  justice  and  of  consanguinity.  We 
must,  therefore,  acquiesce  in  the  necessity  which  denounces  our  separa- 
tion, and  hold  them,  as  we  hold  the  rest  of  mankind,  enemies  in  war,  in 
peace  friends. 

We,  therefore,  Representatives  of  the  United  States  of  America, 
in  general  Congress  assembled,  appealing  to  the  Supreme  Judge  of  the 
World  for  the  recitude  of  our  intentions,  do,  in  the  name,  and  by  author- 
ity of  the  good  people  of  these  colonies,  solemnly  publish  and  declare,  that 
these  United  States  are,  and  of  right  ought  to  be  free  and  independent 
States;  that  they  are  absolved  from  all  allegiance  to  the  British  crown, 
and  that  all  political  connection  between  them  and  the  state  of  Great 
Britain  is  and  ought  to  be  totally  dissolved;  and  that  as  free  and  inde- 
pendent States,  they  have  full  power  to  levy  war,  conclude  peace,  con- 
tract alliances,  establish  commerce,  and  to  do  all  other  acts  and  things 
which  independent  States  may  of  right  do.  And  for  the  support  of  this 
declaration,  with  a  firm  reliance  on  the  protection  of  Divine  Providence,  we 
mutually  pledge  to  each  other  our  lives,  our  fortunes  and  our  sacred  honor. 


INDEX  TO  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT 


(The  References  are  to  Sections) 


Acknowledgment  of  Deeds,  380. 

Administrator,  281. 

Agriculture  Department,  159. 

Ambassadors,  152. 

Amendment   to   U.    S.    Constitution: 

Date    of   adoption,    31;     1st,    128, 

129:    5th,    173:    10th.     131:     13th, 

136;     14th.   138;     15th,   137;     16th, 

31.  62;   17th.  31.  41. 
Amendment    of    State    Constitution, 

192,  220a. 
Appeals.  257.  260. 
Appropriations  by  Congress.  115.  125; 

by  General  Assembly,  210,  215. 
Arbor  Day,  316b. 
Aristocracy,  2. 
Armies,  106,  115. 
Army: 

continental.  22; 

marine  corps.  113; 

national  guard,  109; 

regular,  107; 

reserve,  108; 

rules,  116; 

support,  115; 

volunteer.  110. 
Articles  of  Confederation,  25,  26. 
Artillery,  107. 
Assembly : 

colonial.  9,  10; 

territorial,  187; 

peaceable,  130. 


city,  305 ; 

county,  275; 

township.  285. 
Attainder.  Bill  of.  121. 
Attorney-General,  155,  229. 
Auditor.  227. 

Authority.  State  and  Nation,  118. 
Ballots.  341.  342. 
Bank  Commissioner.  233a. 
Bank  notes,  83.  85. 
Bankruptcies.  91.  93. 
Benefit  assessments,  307. 
Bill  of  attainder.  121. 
Bill  of  rights,  191. 
Board  of  Aldermen,  293,  301. 
Board  of  Equalization: 

state.  235; 

county.  275. 
Boards.  State.  237. 
Bonds,  U.  S.,  69. 


Boston  Tea  Party,  16,  22.  - 

Burgesses.  9.  17. 

Cabmet.  151. 

Captures,  114. 

Cavalry,  107. 

Charter: 

defined,  7; 

first,  8, 
Charter  of: 

Carolinas,  13; 

Connecticut,  14; 

Delaware,  11; 

Georgia,  13; 

Maryland,  11; 

Massachusetts.  10; 

New  Hampshire,  10 

New  Jersey,  12; 

New  York,  12; 

Pennsylvania,  11; 

Rhode  Island,  14. 
Child  labor  laws.  315g. 
Churches.  128,  354,  395. 
Cities,  287. 

board  of  aldermen,  293,  3(H: 

classes,  291; 

commission  form,  298a ; 

elections,  303 ; 

extending  limits,  304; 

first  class,  299 ; 

fourth  class,  293 ; 

government,  290; 

incorporation,  289; 

second  class,  298; 

third  class,  297. 
Citizen.  89.  90.  138. 
Class  legislation,  216. 
Clerk: 

circuit  court,  276; 

city,  296; 

county.  271; 

township,  285. 
Coast  Artillery  Corps.  107. 
Coinage  of  Money.  73.  85; 

free  and  unlimited,  75: 

parity  of  moneys,  76; 

ratio  of  coins.  76; 

standard  metal.  76. 
Collateral  Inheritance  Tax,  370a. 
Collector : 

city  296; 

county,  273; 

township,  285. 


(457) 


458 


INDEX  TO  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT. 


Colleges,  354,  395. 
Colonial  Congress,  21. 
Colonial  Government;-^* 

breaking  up,  16,  28; 

establishment,  8,  15. 
Colonies: 

crown,  9,  10,  12,  13; 

proprietory,  11,  13; 

republican,  14. 
Colored  children,  332. 
Combinations   in   restraint   of  trade, 

400. 
Commerce  Department,  160. 
Commerce: 

foreign,  66; 

free  trade,  67b; 

interstate,  65,  67; 

Interstate  Commission,  67a; 

intrastate,  67d; 

preference,  123. 
Commission     form     of     government, 

298a. 
Committees,  208; 

of  correspondence,  22. 
Common  Law,  243. 
Common  school  districts,  311. 
Commonwealth,  18. 
Complaint,  244. 

Compulsory  school  attendance,  315g. 
Condemnation,  178,  398. 
Confederation,  Articles  of,  25,  26. 
Congress,  20; 

adjournment,  45 ; 

colonial,  21 ; 

continental,  22,  25; 

House  of  Representatives,  33,40; 

lawmaking  body,  32,  33 ; 

like  powers  both  houses,  47 ; 

Senate,  33,  41-42; 

sessions,  45,  46; 

why  two  houses,  51. 
Congressional  townships,  371-375. 
Consent  of  governed,  4,  5. 
Consolidated  school  districts,  314a. 
Constables,  245. 
Constitution  of  United  States: 

amendments,  31; 

first,  25; 

framed,  27; 

fundamental  law,  29; 

preamble,  30; 

ratified,  28; 

second,  26; 

supreme  authority,  29. 
Constitution  of  Missouri: 

bill  of  rights,  191; 

how  amended,  192; 

how  framed,  189; 

three  departments,  193. 
Constitutions,  first  second  and  third, 

187. 
Consuls,  152. 
Continental  Army,  22. 
Continental  Congress,  22. 
Contracts,  impairment,  134. 
Conventions,  16a; 

constitutional,  26. 
Conveyancing,  379-381. 
Coroner,  282. 


Corporations,  389-401: 

definition,  391; 

directors,  390; 

duration,  392; 

educational  and  religious,  395 ; 

foreign,  395 ; 

municipal,  397; 

public  service,  396; 

stockholders,  390; 

trusts,  400. 
Council,  16: 

city,  297,  298,  298a,  299,  300. 
Counties,  268-268a: 

boundaries,  269; 

number,  268; 

relation  to  state,  268; 

St.  Louis,  268. 
County  Court,  271. 
County  officers,  271-282; 

compensation,  282. 
County  School  Fund,  326. 
County  Seat,  270. 
County  Superintendent,  333. 
County  Textbook  Commission,  334. 
Court  of  Claims,  162. 
Court  of  Customs  Appeals,  162. 
Court  martial,  170. 
Courts,  17,  32,  196. 
Courts,  State: 

circuit,  247; 

county,  271; 

courts  of  appeals,  258 ; 

criminal,  248; 

duties  and  powers,  262-267; 

justice  of  peace,  244 ; 

probate,  246; 

supreme,  259. 
Courts,  United  States,  162; 

checks  on  Congress,  163. 
Criminal  law,  243. 
Crown  colonies,  9,  10. 
Curtesy,  387. 
Customs  duties,  56. 
Debts: 

of  State,  214; 

of  county,  275,  286 ; 

of  cities,  306; 

of  school  districts,  317,  319. 
Decimal  system,  74a. 
Declaration  of  Independence,  453. 
Deeds,  379-380. 
Delegate  in  Congress,  187. 
Democracy,  primary,  2. 
Department  of: 

agriculture,  159; 

interior,  158; 

labor,  160a; 

navy. 157; 

war,  154. 
Departments  of  Government,  193; 

executive,  194; 

judicial,  196; 

legislative,  195. 
Deputies,  10. 
Despotisms,  2. 
Direct  taxes,  62. 
Directors  of  corporations,  390. 
District  Courts,  162. 


INDEX  TO  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT. 


459 


District  of  Louisiana.  187. 
Domestic  Violence,  183. 
Dower,  386. 

Due  process  of  law,  138,  173. 
Elections,  city,  303. 
Elections,  general,  337-350a: 

absent  voters,  350a; 

ballots.  341-342; 

candidates  and  nominations,  343 ; 

counting  vote,   345,   272,   348,    226, 
223; 

hours  for  voting,  347 ; 

independent  voters,  344; 

in  Kansas  City  and  St.  Louis,  348; 

judges  and  clerks,  340,  348; 

precincts,  339; 

primary,  343; 

qualifications  of  voters,  350; 

registration  of  voters,  349. 
Electors,  Presidential,  147-150. 
Eminent  Domain.  398. 
Endowments  of  schools,  329. 
Engineer  Department,  154. 
Enlisted  Reserve  Corps,  108. 
Equal  Protection,  138. 
Equality  of  Citizenship,  138. 
Equality  of  Suffrage,  137. 
Equity  Law,  243. 
Excises,  59. 

Executive  Department.  32. 
Executive  Departments,  151-160: 

Cabinet.  151; 

growth  of,  160b; 

of  Agriculture,  159; 

of  Commerce,  160; 

of  Interior,  158; 

of  Justice,  155; 

of  Labor,  160a; 

of  Navy,  157; 

of  State.  152; 

of  Treasury,  153 ; 

of  War,  154; 

Post  Office.  156. 
Executive  officers.  221.  241; 

general  powers,  240. 
Exemption  from  taxation,  336. 
Exemptions,  385a. 
Export  tax,  122. 
Ex  post  facto  laws,  121. 
Federal  farm  loans,  153a. 
Federal  Reserve  Bank,  153. 
Federal  Reserve  Notes.  83a. 
Federal  Union,  20.  28. 
Felony.  243. 
Field  Artillery,  107. 
Field  Charter.  8. 

Food  and  Drug  Commissioner.  235 
Foreign  Affairs,  152. 
Formation  of  Union.  19-28. 
Forms  of  Government.  2. 
Franklin,  Benjamin,  20,  104. 
Free  delivery,  99. 
Free  delivery  mail,  99. 
Free  speech  and  press,  129. 
Free  Trade,  67b,  124. 
Freedom  of  religion,  128. 
General  Assembly,  9,  10,  11,  15,  17, 
197; 

House,  198; 

powers,  217; 

Senate.  199; 

sessions,  205; 


General  welfare,  133. 
Gerrymandering.  39. 
Gold,  74a-78,  80. 
Gold  certificates,  78. 
Government: 

a  development,  6; 

colonial,  8-28; 

defined,  la; 

divisions  of,  32; 

forms  of,  2 ; 

functions,  32; 

progress  of ,  3 ; 

provisional,  17; 

reasons  for,  1. 
Governor: 

power  over  appropriations,  213; 

powers.  223; 

qualifications,  224; 

salary.  224; 

territorial.  187. 
Grand  Jury,  170,  251. 
Greenbacks.  71. 
Guarantees  to  State.  181-3. 
Habeas  Corpus.  120. 
Hamilton.  Alexander,  26. 
Health,  Public,  67c. 
Heirs,  388. 
Henry,  Patrick,  17. 
Homestead,  385. 
House  of  Burgesses,  9,  17. 
House  of  Representatives: 
•  national,  34-40; 

state,  198.  206. 
Ignorance  of  Law.  267. 
Immigration.  90a. 
Impairment  of  Contracts.  134. 
Impeachments.  48,  220. 
Imposts,  55,  58. 
Income  taxes.  62. 
Independence,    Declaration   of,    1,   3, 

23,   453. 
Indians,  68. 
Indictment.  170. 
Infantry.  107. 
Inheritance  tax,  370a. 
Initiative,  192,  220a. 
Inspection  fees.  67c. 
Institutions  of  State.  239. 
Instructions  to  juries,  256. 
Insurance  Department,  233. 
Insurrection,  117. 
Interior  Department,  158. 
Internal  Revenue,  59,  60. 
Interstate  Commerce.  65,  67. 
Inter.  Com.  Corns.,  67a. 
Invasion,  182. 
Irrigation,  15  8a. 
Jefferson,  Thomas,  17. 
Jeopardy,  171. 
Journals,  209. 
Judges: 

U.  S..  162; 

salaries,  165; 

tenure,  164; 

state.  247,  258,  259; 

qualifications  and  salaries,  249. 
Judicial  Department,  32; 

federal,  161-173; 


460 


INDEX  TO  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT. 


Juries,  State: 

in  justice  of  peace  court,  244 ; 

in  circuit  court,  251-256; 

cliallenges,  252a; 

grand,  251; 

petit  or  trial,  252. 
Jury  trial,  9,  17,  167-9,  252-256. 
Justices  of  peace,  244, 
Kansas  City,  300. 
Kentucky,  174. 
Labor  Commissioner,  234. 
Labor  Department,  160a. 
Lands    and    matters    pertaining    to 

lands,  371-388b. 
Laws: 

enforcement,  263; 

how  passed,  207,  208; 

ignorance  of,  267 ; 

kinds,  243; 

on  what  subjects,  217; 

Kevised  Statutes,  219; 

when  effective,  218. 
Legislative  Council,  187, 
Legislative  Department,  32,  33. 
Libel,  129, 
Libraries,  315f. 

Licenses  and  fees,  361,  363-368, 
Lieutenant-Governor,  200,  225. 
Life  estates,  384. 
Limitations,  383. 
Local  option,  365. 
Lodges,  354,  395. 
Louisiana  District,  187; 

purchase,  186; 

territory,  187. 
Madison,  James,  26. 
Magistrates,  10. 
Magna  Charta,  7. 
Mail: 

classes,  97; 

free  delivery,  99; 

rural  delivery,  100. 
Marine  Corps,  113. 
Marriage,  388b. 
Married  women,  388a. 
Marshal,  294. 
Maryland,  26. 

Massachusetts,  16,  16a,  18,  22. 
Mayor,  292,  298a,  301. 
Military  Academy,  107. 
Militia,  109,  236. 
Ministers,  152. 
Mints,  U,  S.,  153. 
Misdemeanor,  243. 
Missouri  boundary,  187. 
Missouri  Constitution: 

first,  187; 

second,  187; 

third,  187-196. 
Missouri  Day,  315b. 
Missouri  Territory,  187. 
Monarchy,  2. 
Money,  71,  73,  85: 

amount  of,  77,  85; 
-definition,  74; 

emergency,  82-85. 
Money  orders,  102. 
Municipal  Corporations,  397. 
Nation  and  State,  135. 
National  bank  notes,  83. 


National  Guard,  109,  236. 

National  Unity,  24. 

Naturalization,  86-90. 

Naval  Reserve,  111. 

Navy,  111. 

Navy  Department,  157. 

Navy  Oflacers,  112. 

New  States,  174. 

New  York,  12,  18. 

Non-sectarian  education,  335. 

Normals,  331. 

Notes  of  National  Banks,  83. 

Notes  of  Reserve  Banks,  83a. 

Notes,  U.  S.,  71. 

Oath,  177. 

Oligarchy,  -2. 

Origin  of  government,  185. 

Paramount  Authority,  232. 

Parcels  Post,  103a. 

Partition  of  lands,  382. 

Patent,  175. 

Peaceable  assembly,  130. 

Pensions,  158b. 

Perjm-y,  266. 

Petit  jiu-y,  252. 

Petition,  right  of,  130. 

Platte  Purchase.  187. 

Police  judge,  295. 

Police  regulations,  308. 

Poll  tax.  62,  370. 

Post  Office,  95-104. 

Post  Office  Department,  156. 

Post  routes,  96. 

Postage  rates,  97. 

Postal  banks,  103b, 

Postal  money  orders,  102. 

Postal  Union,  103. 

Postmasters,  98. 

Power    of    Congress    over    coinage, 

73-85. 
Power  to  borrow  money,  69-71. 
Powers  denied  State,  131-138. 
Powers  denied  U.  S.,  119. 
Powers,  reserved,  131. 
Power  of  Congress  to  enforce  author- 
ity, 180. 
Powers  of  Legislature,  206,  217. 
Preamble,  30. 
Precincts,  339. 
Presents,  127. 
President,  32,  139-150: 

appointments,  139; 

chief  executive,  139; 

how  elected,  147-150; 

powers  and  duties,  144; 

qualifications,  141; 

salary,  143; 

term  of  office,  140; 

vacancy  in  office,  140; 

veto,  145. 
Presidential  Electors,  147-150. 
Press,  free,  129. 
Primary  elections,  343. 
Probate  court,  246. 
Progress  of  government,  3. 
Prosecuting  attorney,  278,  251. 
Province  of  Louisiana,  186. 
Public  administrator,  281. 
Public  health,  67c. 
Public  lands,  175. 


INDEX  TO  C^VIL  GOVERNMEIST. 


461 


Public  roads,  286a; 

benefit  districts.  286a-3 ; 

county  bonds,  286a-4; 

overseers,  286a-l; 

road  districts,  286a-2; 

state  roads,  286a-5. 
Public  schools,  310-336: 

annual  meeting,  312; 

Arbor  Day,  315a; 

boards,  313-315; 

city  and  town  schools,  315; 

common  schools,  311; 

compulsory  attendance,  315g; 

consolidated  districts,  314a; 

Francis  Willard  Day,  315b; 

ftmds,  320-326; 

length  of  term,  316; 

libraries,  315f; 

Missouri  Day.  315b; 

school  age,  315c; 

school  day,  week  and  month,  315a  ; 

state    aid,    314a,    315,    315e,    321, 
331a; 

textbooks.  31 5e,  334; 

taxation  for  school  houses,  317; 

taxation  for  school  purposes,  316; 

vocational  training,  315h. 
Public  School  Fund,  321. 
Public  Service  Commission,  232. 
Public  use,  398. 
Quarantine,  67c, 
Randolph.  Peyton,  22. 
Ranges,  374. 
Recorder  of  deeds,  279." 
Referendum,  220a. 
Registered  letters,  101. 
Regular  Army  Reserve,  108. 
Religious  and  charitable  corporations, 

354    395. 
Religious  freedom,  128. 
Religious  test,  177. 
Remainders,  384. 
Remonstrance,  130." 
Representative  districts,  37a; 

gerrymandering,  39. 
Representatives,  State,  187,  198; 

compensatioh,  202; 

holding  other  oflBces,  203 ; 

oath,  204; 

qualifications,  201 ; 

territorial,  187. 
Representatives,  U.  S.: 

number,  37; 

qualifications,  35; 

salaries,  47; 

time  for  choosing,  38; 

voters  for,  40. 
Republic.  2,  10. 

Republican  form  of  government,  181. 
Reserve  Army.  10'8. 
Reserve  Banks,  83a. 
Reserved  powers,  131. 
Revenue,  54; 

internal,  59.  60, 
Revised  Statutes,  219. 
Right  to  vote,  137. 
River  improvement,  754 
Rural  credits,  153a. 


Rural  free  delivery,  100. 
St.  Louis,  301,268. 
Salaries,  231. 
Saloons,  365-366. 
Sanitation,  308a. 
School  Boards,  313,  315,  319. 
Secretary  of  State,  152,  226. 
Secretary  of  Treasury,  153. 
Sections  of  land,  376,  377. 
Self-crimination,  172. 
Seminary  Fund,  322. 
Senate: 

state,  199; 

powers,  206; 

U.  S.,  41. 
Senators,  State,  199; 

compensation,  202; 

holding  other  offices,  203; 

oath.  204; 

qualifications,  201. 
Senators,  XJ.  S. : 

classification,  41a; 

election,  manner  of,  41 ; 

qualifications,  41a; 

salaries,  47. 
Separate  authority,  118. 
Sessions  of  Legislature,  205. 
Settlement: 

of  Massachusetts,  10; 

of  Virginia,  9. 
Sewers,  307. 
Shay's  Rebellion,  26. 
Sheriff,  277. 
Sidewalks,  307. 
Silver.  74a-77,  79-81. 
Silver  certificates,  79. 
Slander,  129. 
Slavery,  119,  136. 
Slaves.  119a. 
Speaker,  22,  36,  200. 
Special  delivery  mail,  99. 
Special  school  funds,  328. 
Speech,  free,  129. 
State  and  Nation,  135. 
State  Board  of  Education,  319. 
State  Boards,  237. 
State  Government,  origin,  185-187. 
State  institutions,  239. 
State  officers,  238. 
State  offices,  222. 
States,  new,  174. 
States,  rise  of,  18. 
Statutory  Law,  243. 
Stockholders  of  corporations,  390. 
Street  paving,  307. 
Sub-treasuries,  153. 
Suffrage,  equality,  137. 
Superintendent  of  Insurance,  233. 
Superintendent  of  Public   Schools: 

county,  333; 

state,  230. 
Supreme  Law,  184. 
Surveyor,  280. 
Tariff: 

protective,  56; 

revenue,  57. 
Tariff  Taxes,  55. 


462 


INDEX  TO  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT. 


Taxation : 

by  colonial  assemblies,  9,  10,  11; 

by  Parliament,  16; 

by  Congress,  52-61; 

direct.  62; 

excises,  59; 

imports,  58; 

indirect,  55; 

incomes,  62; 

protective  tariff,  56; 

purposes,  64; 

revenue  tariff,  57; 

uniformity,  61,  62; 

usual  methods,  63. 
Taxation,  State,  351-370: 

excise  commissioner,  369; 

exemptions,  354; 

fees,  361; 

license  tax,  363 ; 

occupation  taxes,  364; 

poll  taxes,  370; 

rate  for  city  purposes,  306 ; 

rate  for  county  purposes,  286 ; 

rate  for  state  purposes,  359,  360; 

rate  for  school  districts,  315-319; 

saloon  licenses,  365 ; 

time  of  assessment,  358. 
Taxes : 

direct,  62; 

indirect,  55; 

on  land,  62;  , 

on  persons,  62,  370; 

purposes,  64; 

uniformity,  61,  62; 

usual  methods,  63. 
Teacher-training,  331,  331a. 
Tea  Party,  Boston,  16,  22. 
Territorial  steps,  186. 
Territories,  176. 
Territory  of  Louisiana,  187. 
Territory  of  Missouri,  187. 
Textbooks,  315e,  334. 
Title,  383. 
Titles,  126. 


Township  organization,  285. 
Township  School  Funds,  327 
Townships,  284 ; 

congressional,  371; 

municipal,  284. 
Trade  with  Indians,  68. 
Treason,  179. 
Treasurer: 

city,  296; 

county,  274; 

state,  228; 

township,  !285, 
Treasury  Department,  153 
Treaties,  50,  132,  152. 
Treaty  with  Prance,  186. 
Trial,  253; 

civil,  169,  254; 

criminal,  168,  255. 
Trusts,  400. 

Twice  in  Jeopardy,  171. 
Union,  formation  of,  19-28 
Upper  House,  16. 
Vermont,  174. 
Vice-President,  42,  146. 
Villages,  302. 
Virginia,  16a,  17,  22,  26; 

settlement  of,  9. 
Volunteer  Army,  110. 
Voters: 

absent,  350a; 

independent,  344: 

qualifications,  350; 

registration,  349. 
Voting,  denial,  138. 
War,  105-118. 
Warrant,  244. 
War  Department,  154. 
Washington,  George,  22,  26. 
Weights  and  Measures,  73,  73a 
West  Point,  107. 
West  Virginia,  174. 
Wills,  381,  388. 
Yeas  and  Nays,  209. 


/ 


NOV  20  i3!D 
W^R    141932 


MAR  22    1932 
MAY    3    1945 


50Tn-7,'16 


yo  01680 


't::-^^#^ 


